PDP caucuses endorse Akpabio, Ogor as minority leaders

Defying the barrier of ranking rule in the Senate, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucuses yesterday endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio (PDP, Akwa Ibom North West) as the Senate Minority Leader. New Telegraph learnt that one of the caucuses endorsed Akpabio for the position at the official residence of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

The 15 Senators from the South-East unanimously endorsed the former governor of Akwa Ibom State when they met at the residence of Ekweremadu at Apo legislators’ quarters, Abuja. Our correspondent gathered that prior to the South-East PDP caucus endorsement of Akpabio, 15 out of the 17 PDP senators from the South- South, his geo-political zone, had also endorsed him. The same thing went for the entire five PDP Senators from the South- West as reliably informed by one of the female senators from Ekiti State.

Apart from Akpabio, other minority principal officers of the Senate set to emerge today as approved by the various PDP caucuses in the Upper Chamber are, Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), Senate Deputy Minority Leader; Philip Aduda (FCT), Senate Minority Whip and Abiodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) as Deputy Minority Whip. Also, in the House of Representatives, former Deputy House Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor (Delta), emerged as the Minority Leader. Other minority leaders expected to be announced today are: Yakubu Umar Barde as Minority Whip (Kaduna); Binta Bello (Gombe) as the Deputy Minority Whip while Hon. ChukwuKa Onyema (Anambra) is Deputy Minority Whip.

New Telegraph gathered that the principal officers, who are all of PDP were announced by the chairman of the PDP media and public affairs committee, Hon. Rima Shawulu (PDP, Taraba) after a marathon meeting held at Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja. The lawmakers’ meeting, which began yesterday afternoon ended at about 7p.m. A lawmaker, who was at the meeting, told our correspondent that “though we had our election some weeks past, the principal officers were confirmed today and they were officially announced by Hon. Rima Shawulu. “We are therefore appealing to the APC to put its House in order so that full legislative activities will kick off in the House,” the member stated.