National Assembly leadership: We will strike at the right time - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party has said that it is not bothered about moves by the ruling All Progressives Congress to sideline its members in the election of the presiding officers of the Ninth National Assembly. Rather, it said it was monitoring what is ongoing in the camp of the ruling party and would act when the time comes.


The PDP said there was no way the votes of about 46 senators would not count in the election of the leadership of the Senate. The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, said these in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday. He said it was not his style to be making noise about the position the party would take when the time was not ripe to elect the presiding officers of the National Assembly.

Secondus said the PDP also have what he called “unshaken confidence” in its lawmakers- elect , adding that “they are all capable to take decisions that are in the best interest of Nigeria, Nigerians and are all good party men and women.”

He added, “We are not bothered about the hue and cry by the ruling party of their winner takes all position. We know that politics is about negotiations, discussions and listening to people. The Senate is made up of former governors who have served for eight years, ex-ministers and even ambassadors. Some deputy governors are there as well. You don’t just summon and bark out orders at such men and women. National Assembly is the nation’s symbol of democracy.
As a party, we are keenly watching what is ongoing. We are also hearing what some are saying about how they want to control the assembly and all that. We are not used to making noise. Rather, we discuss, we negotiate and we agree. When the time comes for us to take a position, we know when to strike. That is politics for you. Notable political players who know their onions don’t make noise on the pages of newspapers and on the screen of television stations. We know what we are doing as a party“.

Secondus said he preferred to be underrated by opponents before any election, adding that such was what happened to the PDP in the just concluded election.

“They said we were dead as a political  party before the just-concluded general elections. We started with 11 states in December 2017, but got 13 states before the election. Now, we have 15 states with the hope that we would still get more because technically, we are in charge of Osun now.

“If we were not rigged out in some states and at the national level, we would have been in charge of more states. So, let the noise makers continue with their noise, while we keep talking to the people that matter,” he added.