The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Lagos State chapter, has called on the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to call state chapter of his party to order.
According to the Lagos PDP, the APC leadership in the state is trying to interfere in the democratic selection of the leadership of the State House of Assembly scheduled to be inaugurated on Monday.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, the opposition party stated that the call was necessitated by the “confirmed moves of lobbying and coercion of members of the House in order to vote in favour of a particular member”, which the PDP described as “not likely to represent the interest of the masses, but the interest of his Godfathers”.
The PDP, therefore, tasked the APC in Lagos to justify its slogan of “change” by not stage-managing elections in the state.
It specifically asked Tinubu to caution other leaders so as to allow free and fair election of the house leadership.
“We have it on good authority that some powerful leaders of the APC in the state are lobbying and coercing members of the state assembly to select a particular member as Speaker. We heard huge sums in foreign currencies are already being disbursed to achieve this task. This person has pledged to do the bidding of these leaders if selected.
“This is inordinate and a threat to good governance in the state for the next four years. The APC should not be allowed to arm-twist the honourable members. Lagosians are tired of rubber stamp House of Assembly as witnessed in the previous administrations. The challenge at this time is for the leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, to call the lobbyists to order, in order to ensure that the process is free and fair”, the statement said.
The party also urged the lawmakers to vote in the manner best appropriate for democracy to thrive in the House of Assembly and called for the legislative chamber’s gallery to be opened to all interested observers.
“At least, the state media like the LTV and radio stations should do a live transmission of the procedure for Lagosians to attest to. This is an auspicious time for Lagosians to test the progressives in the APC, if at all it has any”, the PDP stated.
The PDP further admonished its eight members in the House of Assembly to vote according to their best assessment and conscience for the betterment of the state.
