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There was mild drama on Tuesday at the Abia State House of Assembly complex on Tuesday after aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) staged a walkout.
The PDP members, numbering 11 in total, stormed out in protest over last week’s announcement of new principal officers of the House, which saw the Majority Leader position and other key offices in the legislative house go to the Labour Party (LP) and Young Progressive Party (YPP).
Only the position of Minority Leader is still vacant as it was not among those announced by the Speaker.
Read Also: PDP’s Expulsion Of Nnamani Annulled By Court
Addressing the press on Tuesday on behalf of his colleagues, the member representing the Ukwa West constituency, Godwin Adiele, pointed out that the abrupt end to Friday’s seating was allegedly not captured in the minutes of Tuesday’s proceedings.
He added that PDP members asked the Speaker, Emmanuel Emeruwa, to hold on to other issues to allow the majority-minority issues to be resolved first.
He wondered why a political party with a majority of members should be made to assume the place of a minority in the assembly.
He insisted that Order 8, Rule 42 of the House should be followed, adding that PDP members may seek legal interpretation.
The walkout by PDP lawmakers took place on the day commissioner nominees were to be screened.
Speaker Emmanuel Emeruwa had announced that the emergence of new principal officers was a product of an understanding between the LP legislators and their counterparts from YPP and APC.
In another report, the expulsion of Senator Chimaroke Nnamani from the Peoples Democratic Party has been overturned by a Federal High Court in Abuja, with the court ruling that the party’s action was without legal effect.
Justice James Omotosho, in his ruling on the lawsuit brought by Senator Nnamani, concluded that the expulsion imposed by the Peoples Democratic Party, under the leadership of former National Chairman Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, was illegitimate as the party lacked the authority to expel him over alleged anti-party activities.
The Eastern Updates recalls that in February, the National Working Committee of the PDP reportedly carried out the expulsion of various party leaders, including Nnamani, on the grounds of alleged anti-party activities and other serious offenses that violated the party’s constitution.
