|
|
advertisement
| Etteh weeps at PDP caucus meeting
Idowu Samuel, Abuja
Sunday, September 2, 2007 There were indica tions that the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Patricia Olubunmi Etteh will confront some turbulent sessions in her drive to retain her job, following the non-committal disposition of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to save her.
The caucus meeting had Etteh in attendance and she was said to have broken down in tears while pleading for forgiveness and soliciting the assistance of the elders in taking the cup of crisis off her hands. It was learnt that the caucus members, most especially former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Alex Ekwueme, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma and other elders, had tongue-lashed the Speaker, blaming her for failing to commit the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to renovate the two houses in question. The issue of Etteh was said to have been tabled before the PDP national caucus by the Chairman, Chief Ahmadu Ali, who reportedly pleaded for understanding and support by the party for her. An angry Obasanjo was said to have asked Etteh to shut up midway into her explanation of her role in the contract scam, reminding her, pointedly, of earlier warnings he had given her on how to lead the House without crisis. Insiders at the caucus meeting told Sunday Tribune that rather than join in the plea for PDP to rescue Etteh, Obasanjo told her that she ought to have known that the Houses in question are owned by the FCDA, hence she should have left the issue of renovation to the officials of the Authority. Besides, Dr. Alex Ekwueme who heads the PDP Reconciliation Committee was said to have explained to Etteh the party’s dilemma in rescuing her, citing the precedence by the party in fighting corruption at the National Assembly. The argument canvassed by the elders, according to sources, was that if the PDP government could initiate the impeachment of the late Okadigbo over a N50million contract scandal and the ouster of Wabara from office over a N10 million bribery scandal, support for Etteh on the allegations against her by the PDP would have put a moral burden on the party. Although President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did not speak much on the issue, according to sources, he reportedly remarked that the issue of renovation of Etteh’s residence and that of her deputy by the National Assembly was an “illegality”. Sunday Tribune learnt that the president had earlier expressed his dilemma over the Etteh issue, given his puritanical disposition, the anti-corruption posturing of his government and the call on him to intervene on behalf of the embattled Speaker. The PDP caucus, it was learnt, however, resolved to tacitly support a probe of the Speaker when the House resumes for sitting next Tuesday with the possibility of giving the chance to the Speaker to have a firm control of the committee likely to be set up to probe the contract scam. Etteh, a source disclosed to Sunday Tribune, had attended the caucus meeting with attendance registers of the meetings she had had with her colleagues as a proof of the massive support that she was still commanding from members. She was said to have assured the caucus that she would rally more forces to herself before the resumption of members next week, an indication that she would summon more meetings of her supporters between now and next Tuesday. At the time of filing this report, members of the House who were in Abuja were busy attending different caucus meetings holding at the Apo legislative quarters to fine-tune plans and arrangements, preparatory to the resumption of plenary session on Tuesday. However, most caucus members who attended the meeting at the Presidential Villa confirmed that Etteh was still strong- willed and determined to save her job while appearing not broken down by the turn of events, the tears she shed before the party elders notwithstanding. | |||
advertisement