The announcement of chairmen and deputy chairmen of the 96 standing committees of the House of Representatives has thrown the lower chamber into confusion as All Progressives Congress lawmakers are at daggers-drawn over the allocation of juicy committees. APC’s two major blocs in the House: the Loyalty Group led by House leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Consolidation Group sympathetic to Speaker Yakubu Dogara has renewed its rivalry as both camps engage in a war of attrition.
A top member of the Loyalty Group, Hon. Alitu Sani Madaki (APC, Kano), in an exclusive interview with Sunday Telegraph faulted Dogara’s decision to give preference to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party members in the constitution of committee leadership; saying the opposition “is having its say and way in the House.”
But a member of the Consolidation Group yesterday in Abuja dismissed the complaints from the Gbajabiamila camp, saying the lawmakers complaining over juicy committees “were after money and not service.”
These altercations are coming on the heels of the rejection of the leadership of standing committees by not less than three lawmakers. Early last week, a former deputy minority whip, Hon. Mohammed Garba Datti (APC, Kaduna), rejected his appointment as chairman of the comittee on solid minerals development.
This is even as another member, Hon. Saleh Hassan (PDP, Benue), has reportedly written to the speaker to decline his appointment as a committee deputy chairman.
Meanwhile, Madaki in his interview carpeted the speaker for not consulting Gbajabiamila before making his appointments. (see full interview on Pg 20) But in a response yesterday, a member of Dogara’s Consolidation Group, Hon. Mustapha Bala Dawaki (APC, Kano), said members rejecting committee appointments were after money and not service. Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Dawaki said the primary motive of members should be service to the nation, not their personal interest. According to him, no committee is useless and it is not the right of any member to chair specific committees.
The leadership reserve the right to place MPs into committees and that if their primary motion is service, they have no reason to reject such appointment.
He argued that any member who thinks he or she is in the House to make money will be in for trouble as the Speaker will not tolerate such behaviour and will wash his hands off anyone found wanting. “Mr. Speaker wants this assembly to work and pass a record number of bills. Members must sit up and do the right thing. It will no longer be business as usual.
He appointed 96 committee chairmen and their deputies. APC got 48, PDP 45. APC got 55 deputy chairmen and PDP 39. Of the 48 APC chairmen, 26 are Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s supporters. “Of the 54 deputy chairmen, 29 are Femi Gbajabiamila’s supporters.
Some of the Grade A committees allocated to Hon. Femi’s supporters include Customs and Excise, which both chairman and deputy came from Femi’s group. Hon. Faleke and Hon. Chanchangi. Agriculture and many others are Grade A committees.”
“There are some committees that naturally belong to some zones as obtained in previous assemblies which include Petroluem Resouces and Gas. Those committees were retained in those zones. Again, APC got Grade A committees such Agriculture, Appropriation, Finance, Police Affairs, Navy, Defence, Interior, FCT, Basic Education, Tertiary Education, Customs, Judiciary, Electoral Matters, Emergency and Disaster Management, Housing, Land Transport, Marine, Pensions, Public Safety and Intelligence, Rules and Business, House Services, Telecommunications, Water Resources and Solid Minerals.
“Also, unlike in the previous assemblies, this time around, the ruling party APC does not have 2/3rd majority in the House. The opposition party, PDP, has the numerical strenght to block or frustrate any bill or motion which requires 2/3rd majority vote. This means that they must be carried along in the scheme of things as we cannot run an all exclusive govt.
And that is why they too must be given committees to chair. “If the motivation of these lawmakers is service, why are they insisting on chairing certain committees? Why are they rejecting some committees? It means that their primary motivation is not service but personal interest”, he stated.
