The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that it has no candidate for the offices of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President.
The PDP, however, denied the allegation that as a party, it was plotting to change norms at the National Assembly where the party with the majority of elected senators or members of the House of Representatives presents the leadership at the National Assembly.
Speaking with journalists, Wednesday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who noted that the party, which has now become the new opposition in the National Assembly, was not contemplating imposing the leadership for the Senate, however, denied that it was plotting to present the present President of the Senate, Senator David Mark as a candidate for the Presidency.
Metuh, who stressed that it was an established norm that the party with the majority presents leadership at the National Assembly, said: “That was not part of the PDP retreat for members of the National Assembly in Port Harcourt. PDP has no such plot to upstage the All Progressives Congress (APC) in presenting leadership at the National Assembly, contrary to the known norms.
“The truth is that it was not discussed at all at the Port Harcourt retreat. The truth is that we have no candidate for Senate President or Deputy Senate President. The truth is that we are ready to present a credible opposition to the All Progressives Congress as the ruling party. We wish President Muhammadu Buhari success and hope he would be able to turn around the economy.”
According to the PDP spokesperson, the Port Harcourt retreat only commended Senators David Mark and Ike Ekweremadu for stabilizing democracy and National Assembly, adding: “So, it is not true that PDP is plotting to present a candidate for the Senate President and Deputy Senate President.”
Also ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the 8th Senate, some PDP Senators from the South-West, South-South and South-East geo political zones of the country have denied the report that the PDP was plotting to present the incumbent Senate president, David Mark as a candidate for the Senate President.
In their various comments, former chairman of the PDP in Delta State and the Senator-elect for Delta North, Peter Nwaoboshi; PDP Senator-elect for Imo State, Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu and Senator Duro Faseyi from Ekiti State, separately denied that the PDP took a decision in Port Harcourt to present David Mark as the Senate president candidate.
For Peter Nwaoboshi: “There was no truth in the report that PDP has decided to field David Mark as Senate president. We know the norms, which is that the party with the majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives should present the leadership in the National Assembly.
“So, as far as we in the PDP are concerned, the retreat in Port Harcourt is meant to re strategise and present our party as a credible opposition political party.”
Senator–elect Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu said, “We know the norms and this is that the party with the highest number of senators should present both senate president and deputy senate present. It is not true that the Port Harcourt retreat was aimed at presenting David Mark as a PDP consensus senate president candidate.”
For the returning Senator, Duro Fayesi from Ekiti state, the retreat was basically designed to among others help to re strategise and position PDP as the main opposition party, adding that there was no truth in the report that PDP was plotting to present a candidate for the office of the senate president.
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