THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State will today finalise its position on the Minority Leader’s post in the state House of Assembly, which the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has recently laid claims to.

However, secretary of the PDP in the state, Yemi Afolayan, said the position of the ACN on the issue should not be “unduly spread by the media”.

Afolayan, in a chat with The Guardian yesterday, also said that both the PDP and ACN were political parties recognised under the nation’s Constitution and would, therefore, peacefully look into the issue with a view to resolving it.

But talking tougher, Afolayan said the Kwara PDP might not deviate from the position of the Senate, which through its own standing rules resolved that no freshman senator could occupy a principal post in the Upper Chamber.

He said: “Nobody is faulting that; not even the ACN at the Senate. So why the Kwara issue? I think the ACN in Kwara is just making noise so that people can know that the party is still alive.

“I know that the Constitution is supreme but the same Constitution allows the House to have its standing rules, to regulate its activities smoothly. So the issue raised by the ACN is null and void”.

The PDP controls 22 out of the 24 members of the Assembly. The ACN has two members - Hassan Oyeleke (Eesa/Sawo constituency) and Tope Olayomi (Balogun/Ojomu Constituency).

The ACN, through its state Chairman, Kayode Olawepo, had alleged a constitutional breach on the matter when he claimed that the House allegedly passed a retroactive rule, which allows only three minimum members of the opposition before the Minority Leader of the House could emerge.

Olawepo said the existing rule of the House had permitted a minimum member of two, adding that the new rule was hurriedly put in place to disqualify ACN members from occupying the seat.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday in Ilorin, Olawepo said the party would explore all available constitutional means to abrogate the “retroactive rule of the House” towards allowing ACN to occupy its rightful position in the Seventh Legislative Session of the House.

According to him, “our two members resumed at the House yesterday (Tuesday) and were immediately called to a caucus meeting apparently by the new leaders of the House to resolve it. We are still awaiting the outcome of the meeting.

“But since it is a constitutional matter, it must surely be resolved. Even if we have one member, it is still our right under the Constitution, which is supreme to any other rules of the House, to be Minority Leader of the House”.