Budget Presentation: PDP Summons Deputy Speaker, Others

Deputy speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, John Shekarau, chief whip, Golu Timothy and deputy chief whip, Ado Adere and five other members of the Assembly, are to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Working Committee, to explain why they refused to attend the 2013 budget presentation by Governor Jonah Jang.

According to a statement signed by Peter Shyepsuk, State Publicity Secretary of the party, which was made available to LEADERSHIP WEEKEND in Jos yesterday, the PDP condemned the action of the lawmakers, viewing it as a mark of indiscipline and irresponsibility.

But in a swift reaction, the chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Diket Plang, told a news conference that the PDP should have been more concerned about how the government was touching the lives of the people and not the absence of the lawmakers.

He called on the party leadership in the state to, as a matter of urgency, retract the statement, stressing that members of the Plateau House of Assembly remained committed to the growth and development of the state and the mandate given to them by the people of their constituencies.

The statement, however, added that the party cannot fold its arms and allow people it worked for to run it down.