Group condemns Speaker Gbajabiamila over imposition of House Minority Leader

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), in a statement by the National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, sent toNational Daily, protested that Speaker Gbajabiamila in his arbitrary imposition of Ndu Elumelu of the PDP as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives is in total, flagrant and unambiguous violation of established convention and ethical codes regarding the mode of selection of principal officers of the National Assembly from the caucuses of political parties in the parliament.

“His unconstitutional imposition of a leader on the PDP is absolutely condemmable and is an attempt at destroying the fundamentals of our constitutional democracy,” the group declared.

HURIWA further declared that “the resolve of the Speaker to impose a leader for the opposition party in the National Assembly is unconstitutional, illegal, an attempted coup and it must be resisted by every possible means because it is an action that if not corrected will destroy the fundamentals of our constitutional democracy.”

HURIWA argued that in every constitutional democracy, the party caucuses in the parliaments are decided by the hierarchies of the respective political parties. “If PDP is the minority party in the parliament, it is the PDP national leadership that will select their leaders in the parliament in line with the party’s constitution. It is not for the Speaker of the House, who is not a member of the PDP to suo motto select the leader of the PDP in that parliament,” the group emphasised.

HURIWA accused Gbajabiamila of plotting to establish one party legislature, advocating that it must be resisted.

HURIWA further agitated that the election of Speaker Gbajabiamila was fundamentally tainted; arguing that the process violated known norms for the selection of Speaker of the House of Representatives. The group observed that lawmakers who participated in the election were seen taking photographs of their ballot papers; alleging that the photograph was an evidence of proof who each legislator voted for and ticket for payment for support. “Gbajabiamila’s election was against the parliamentary code of conduct on how election should be conducted,” the group decried.