‘PDP now minority in House of Reps’

 

Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, raised the alarm on Friday that the current crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party had turn the party into a minority in the lower legislative chamber.

The lawmaker also noted that the crisis could rub on decisions the House might take on any national issue as from next week when members would have resumed from their current annual recess.

Mohammed, who spoke at a pre-resumption news conference in Abuja, noted that the lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday for the 2013-2014 legislative year.

He said the PDP has 208 out of the 360 members of the House, while the All Progressives Congress controls 137 members.

He, however, explained that 57 out of the 208 PDP members in the House had defected to the ‘new PDP’ faction led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

The spokesman said that the development had therefore made the ‘old PDP’ to become the minority in the House.

He added, “It is likely that the ‘rebellious’ new PDP members will team up with the APC members to decide major issues in the House.

“There are 137 APC members who may choose to team up with the 57 PDP rebels and become the majority in the House. So, who is the minority now?”, he wondered.

Mohammed feared that “this potential danger of the PDP losing its ground was the reason the party must act fast to resolve the crisis.”