The House of Representatives on Wednesday commenced investigation into the allegation of cash- for- defection leveled against the Presidency and five members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that defected to the Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday.
The APC through its interim spokesman, Lai Mohammed, has alleged that members of the House of Representatives were offered millions of dollars to defect to the PDP.
The APC lawmakers that defected to PDP are – Lawan Shehu Bichi ( Kano), Sani Ibrahim Doruwa ( Zamfara), Ibrahim Shehu ( Zamfara), Umar Bature (Sokoto) and Abdusalam Adamu (Kano).
The House has referred the matter to its committee on Ethics and Privileges to establish the veracity of the allegation and is to report back to the House within two weeks.
The decision of the House was sequel to a motion brought before it by a member, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers).
According to the lawmaker, the allegation was not only a breach of his privilege, but also against the integrity and image of Rep members before their constituencies.
His motion was met with loud shouts from both members of APC and PDP. While the APC members lauded the move to investigate the allegations, the PDP members shouted, “they should provide proof, they must prove it!”
This is coming just as the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, dismissed the allegation, saying that it sought to cast doubt in the minds of Nigerians regarding the integrity of the affected lawmakers.
“All well meaning Nigerians are indeed worried by the statements and actions of the APC which are clearly aimed at destroying our democracy and plunging the nation into chaos.
“There is no doubting the fact that the PDP under its new National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, is reaching out to all its members including those that defected in a reconciliation drive that is already yielding dividends.
“At a point, in the mind of some sections of the public, the PDP got to its lowest level, but we remained focused. Despite the defections of lawmakers from our fold, the PDP never assaulted their integrity.
“We are expecting more defections to the PDP. We have consistently told Nigerians that the PDP would emerge from its challenges a stronger party and this is what we are witnessing.
“The PDP is the only political party with a consistent structure, vision and achievements in the transformation of Nigeria since 1998. The APC is a cacophonous amalgam of tribal and religious irredentists with no known vision or achievements in its earlier metamorphosis,” Metuh said.