As concerns mount over alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Presidency to instigate the impeachment of the leadership of the National Assembly, the Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal has warned that any abuse of due process and rule of law will be met with stiff resistance by the opposition.

Speaking at the opening of the 81st National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, Tambuwal said any attempt to abuse due process in the effort to unseat principal officers of the National Assembly will be stoutly resisted.

The Sokoto State governor said that patriotic Nigerians must rally together to retrieve power from the present leadership.

While speaking on the outcome of the NEC meeting, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said
NEC resolved to adopt the new modalities for nomination of candidates for elections, to accommodate the changes brought about by the recent law on the “not too young to run”.

He said that the NEC has also approved the timetable for party primaries, details of which will be made public soon.

Speaking on the nature of the amendments to the modalities for primaries, he said the party tried to fine-tune it to include the age reduction as contained in the new law.

The Senate President Bukola Saraki and top former members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, governors of Sokoto and Benue States, Tambuwal and Samuel Ortom were at Thursday’s NEC meeting of the PDP.

The NEC meeting, which had the trappings of a victory celebration, saw all the gladiators, especially the new defectors in a happy mood exchanging banter with each other.

Apart from the trio, the meeting hall was filled to its brim by the key figures in the PDP, including governors, lawmakers and some of the presidential aspirants.

One of the highlights of the NEC meeting was the symbolic recognition to be accorded to Saraki as the leader of the opposition party being the highest ranking political office holder under the present dispensation.

With his defection, Saraki effectively becomes the leader of the party, taking over from his deputy, Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu, who held the position until the latest defection that saw Saraki and other top APC members move over to the PDP.

The arrival of Saraki was heralded by loud ovation as he was led into the venue of the meeting by the PDP National Chairman, Secondus and other bigwigs of the party.

Saraki arrived at about 2.50pm to a tumultuous crowd that besieged the National Secretariat of the PDP in Abuja.

In a short speech, Saraki said that Wednesday’s event was a historic one not only to the PDP but to Nigeria.

He pleaded with members of the party to accept the returning former members and other new entrants with open hands so as to boost the chances of winning the 2019 presidential election.

•Culled from a THISDAY report

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