Politics
2019 Elections: PDP Probes Errant Members
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will set up a committee to investigate why it lost the 2019 Presidential, National Assembly and Governorship elections in some states.
The chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, confirmed this to our correspondent last Monday.
Jibrin said although the party performed well by producing 16 state governors, 44 senators and about 118 members of the House of Representatives, the PDP would have done better if all members of the party had worked for the party’s interest and according to the directives of its leadership.
He said the party would investigate what happened and punish those who worked against the interest of the party during the elections.
Jibrin said, “The election issue has happened so it is left for the party to look generally at what happened.
“We have not yet set up that committee and there is hope that that committee will have to be set up and anybody who has gone astray, definitely have to be dealt with. It is a general issue.
“It happens everywhere, even in the APC. You see that what happened in the APC was even worse than our own. But do not judge until you investigate and make sure the person has committed an offence before you deal with the person. We are doing that.
“How can we be happy with those who caused the party to fail in some states? How can we? Even in your house, you prepare the food, your child eats the food and he does contrary to what you want in your house, it will worry you.”
Meanwhile, the PDP National Working Committee has set up a fact-finding committee on the role played by some of its members during the elections of presiding officers of the National Assembly.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Ologbondiyan said the committee would, among others, would find out why some lawmakers elected on the platform of the PDP failed to abide by the decision of the party during the National Assembly leadership election.
He also said the committee will find out and recommend ways to checkmate such tendencies in the future and ensure that, moving forward, all members work together to defend the interest of the party at all times and circumstances.
According to him, the committee is given three weeks from the date of its inauguration to report to the NWC.
Ologbondiyan said the committee has former President of the Senate, Adolphus Wabara, as Chairman while former National Secretary of the PDP, Prof Wale Oladipo, will serve as Secretary.
Other members of the committee include a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu; a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Austin Opara; a former Senate Chief Whip, Stella Omu; a former Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Abdul Ningi; and the first female Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mrs Margaret Icheen, among others.
The Senate yesterday received the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper from President Bola Tinubu, marking the formal launch of the 2026 federal budget cycle.
In a letter addressed to the upper chamber, Tinubu said the submission complies with statutory requirements and sets out the fiscal parameters that will guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
He explained that the MTEF/FSP outlines the macroeconomic assumptions, revenue projections, and spending priorities that will shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction over the next three years.
The letter was read during plenary by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who urged lawmakers to expedite consideration of the document.
“It is with pleasure that I forward the 2026 to 2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for the kind consideration and approval of the Senate.
“The 2026 to 2028 MTEF and FSP were approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 3, 2025, and the 2026 budget of the Federal Government will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions therein,” the President stated.
Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the fiscal projections, pegging the oil benchmark price at $64.85 per barrel and adopting a budget exchange rate of ?1,512/$1 for 2026—figures expected to significantly shape revenue forecasts and expenditure planning.
After reading the President’s letter, Jibrin referred the document to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), with a directive to submit its report by Wednesday, December 17.
The Senate adjourned shortly after to allow committees to commence scrutiny of the fiscal framework and continue the ongoing screening of ambassadorial nominees.
Tinubu’s communication to the Senate came less than 24 hours after he transmitted the same MTEF/FSP documents to the leadership of the House of Representatives.
The letter was read on the House floor by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also urged timely legislative action as required by law.
The MTEF and FSP are statutory instruments mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and serve as the blueprint for Nigeria’s annual budgets.
They outline the government’s fiscal stance, macroeconomic assumptions, revenue frameworks, projected deficits, and sectoral priorities over a three-year period.
The Tide reports that approval by the National Assembly is a prerequisite for the executive to present the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year.
In a statement on Saturday, the former Senate Leader stated that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation in the composition of the Federal Government.
The ex-Senate Whip warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration should be consolidating national unity.
He highlighted disparities in the spread of nominees, noting that while some states have three or four slots, others have none. He also cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
“The entire North-East states have seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
“North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Senator Ndume said.
According to him, such imbalances could heighten tensions and undermine Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country. He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle,” Senator Ndume added.
He accused the legislators of undermining the sanctity of the legislature and acting as instruments of destabilization.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” Comrade Ememobong stated, adding that “They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.”
“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” he said.
Comrade Ememobong announced that the party would deploy constitutional provisions to reclaim its mandate from those who have “ignobly and surreptitiously” abandoned the platform on which they were elected.
“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now switched to another platform,” he said.
He urged party members in Rivers State to remain calm and steadfast.
“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” Comrade Ememobong assured.
