By Henry UMORU
FOLLOWING last Tuesday, June 23 eruption of violence at the chambers of the Federal House of Representatives, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, the next , summoned the speaker, Dimeji Bankole, to the National Secretariat of the party.

Some members of the House last Tuesday had a free for all fight,  with some injured, others beaten to stupor, or their clothes torn in the public glare.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the National Chairman, Dr. Nwodo, was very angry with the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, when he met with him, alongside members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party on Wednesday. The source disclosed that the venue of the meeting was the National Chairman’s office.

According to the source, the angry National Chairman looked Bankole straight in his eyes and told him that he was disappointed in him and other members of the House of Representatives who allowed the crisis to degenerate into that very ugly situation.

The source stated further that the National Chairman was not happy with the leadership of the House which had failed to carry the party along. In fact, the chairman told Bankole that he kept the leadership of the party away from the happenings.

“The National Chairman made it clear to Bankole that if there was any situation of that kind, the speaker ought to have sought the intervention of the party’s hierarchy or reported the matter to the party. The Chairman said the progressives’ camp ought to have also reported to the party since majority of them were from PDP”, the source said.

The source also stated that at the closed door meeting, the National Chairman who spoke throughout the meeting, asked the Speaker to let the party have a detailed report of what happened in a written form, even as he said he would not hesitate to sanction members of the House of Representatives as that would serve as a deterrent to others.

The Speaker, having listened to the National Chairman, was said to have been   apologised to the party’s leadership.
But at the end of the meeting, the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, in a statement, said the party’s leadership described the actions of members of the House who engaged in fisticuffs as a show of shame.

According to him, the party expressed its disappointment over what it described as “embarrassing scenes in the House of Representatives where members openly threw caution to the wind and engaged one another in this unparliamentary conduct.”

The statement read in part, “The NWC therefore condemned the resort to violence which was carried out in the full glare of the public, including school children who had gone to the National Assembly to experience the process of legislation first hand.

“The outcome of the sitting of the House of Representatives on the 22nd of June, 2010 is regrettable and does not tally with the mood of the nation and the policy thrust of President Goodluck Jonathan which encourages constructive engagement.

“This shameful act carried out by some members of the House of Representatives, some of whom are members of our Party also negates the new philosophy of discipline and decorum, which the New National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo has set out to instill in the Party. The Party therefore calls on the House of Representatives to offer apology to Nigerians for this disgraceful and avoidable conduct.

“The NWC was particularly saddened that its earlier appeal for members to sheath their swords and embrace dialogue in resolving all lingering issues went unheeded.”