Aggrieved Reps brawl over House committees’ composition; as Gbajabiamila group accuses Dogara of sabotage
Some aggrieved members of the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tuesday, engaged in a free-for-all-fight on the floor of the House to register their grievances over composition of House Committees inaugurated by Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, Monday.
Accusing Dogara of declaring an outright war against the ruling party and the Presidency by ceding vital committee positions to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Representatives exchanged blows on the floor.
The group which calls itself as the “Loyalists Group” of APC federal lawmakers insisted that only a reversal of the current composition of the House committees would assuage the feelings of members and serve the interest of Nigerians who are waiting for the APC change mantra.
Addressing journalists shortly after a meeting with the leadership of the party at the national secretariat in Abuja, the spokesman of the group, Hon. Musa Serikin Adar (APC Sokoto), said the decision of the Speaker to share the committees’ headship on a 50 -50 basis between the majority party APC and the minority parties was tantamount to depriving the ruling party of majority status in the National Assembly.
“The composition of headships of committees must be seen for what it is: a declaration of war against the APC and the Presidency – all calculated at sabotaging the majority advantage that APC enjoys, with ultimate aim of rolling back the electoral victory of our party,” he said.
Adar said the composition of chairmen and deputy chairmen of committees was a clear manifestation of the marginalisation of the ruling APC.
He said under the seventh assembly headed by Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the then majority party-PDP-got 63 out of 89 committees of the House which constituted 71 per cent share of the committees while the minority parties (ACN, ANPP, CPC and others) got only 26 out of the 89 committees which underscores the fact that the minority got only 29 per cent share of the committees.
“Today whereas APC has 50 per cent, the opposition has 50 per cent. This is totally unacceptable to us, we came to inform the party that we are still loyal to the party and we call on the party to make sure that Yakubu Dogara reverses same for the benefit of the party and benefit of Nigerians.
“We should not forget that Nigerians voted PDP out of power in this country because of their misrule. We cannot accept what has happened and the party has clearly understood our position,” he said.
When asked about the position of the party’s leadership on the dispute, Adar said the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and other NWC members have decided to invite the Speaker to hear his own side of the issue.
The group which shares affinity with the House Majority Leader Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila stated that it is on record that Hon. Dogara has consistently taken the APC for granted on past occasions including his contempt for APC’s National Leadership when he spearheaded a boycott of the party’s plan to midwife a concensus arrangement for the emergence of the National Assembly principal officers.
It would be recalled that despite the criticisms that have trailed the appointment of leadership of the Standing Committees of the House of Representatives, the Speaker, Dogara, Monday, went ahead to inaugurate the 96 standing committees.
The Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, was however absent from the special session for the inauguration.
He was listed on the order paper to move the motion for admittance of “invited guests into the chamber for the purpose of inauguration of the Special and the Standing Committees of the House.”
The Chief Whip, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, moved the motion in his stead. Gbajabiamila was also listed to deliver the welcome address, which was delivered by the Deputy House Leader, Hon. Jibrin Buba.
The Majority Leader had said he was not consulted in the appointments, and therefore sidelined. The Speaker’s camp has however maintained that while the prerogative over the appointments is statutorily the Speaker’s, he exercised it in consultation with all principal officers.
Meanwhile the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, also Monday provided insight into why the House increased the number of standing committees from 90 to 97, explaining that it was necessary so committees can better oversight their agencies.
He cited the Committee on Education, which was split into Basic Education and Tertiary Education. The old committee was saddled with oversight on the budget and policy issues of 104 unity schools, 22 Federal Colleges of Education, 36 Federal Universities and 24 Federal Polytechnics, in addition to the Ministry of Education and 25 agencies.
Others, such as the Committee on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were created in response to contemporary demands.
“Splitting of committees has not resulted in increased cost of running the House. The committee clerks and other staff of the committees are sourced from the existing pool of staff that are paid salaries and allowances already by the National Assembly. The committee members are already paid salaries also by the National Assembly. No person gets an increased remuneration by virtue of appointment as a Committee member or chairman.
“The National Assembly budget has not been increased as a result. The situation in the legislature is slightly different from the situation in the executive branch where creating a new agency or ministry may lead to increased costs of running the offices,” he explained.
