The long wait and apprehension over who gets what in the headship of committees of the House of Representatives ended last week with the announcement, Thursday of same by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara. A new vista has however been opened, fueling speculations that many were not comfortable with the composition of the committees. In this piece, JOSHUA EGBODO writes on the intrigues, and storms in Dogara’s tea cup.
On Thursday October 22, 2015, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara named the leaderships of over 90 special and standing committees for the eighth assembly of the House. As expected, there have been mixed reactions since the announcement.
It was before then predicted that the House may be stormy after the public declaration of committee heads, much expected to be so that only less than a hundred committees are created in a parliament of 360 members, with just 10 of them as principal officers. So distributing the headship of the committees between the remaining 350 must naturally be a Herculean task.
Highlights of the list as announced by Dogara showed that those who got what are usually referred to as the “Grade A” or “juicy committees” include; Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin (Appropriations), Hon. Babangida Ibrahim (Finance), Hon. James Abiodun Faleke (Customs and Excise), Hon. Herman Hembe (Federal Capital Territory), Hon. Muktar Betara Aliyu (Defence), Hon. Agbedi Fredrick (Gas Reources), Hon. Akinlaja Joseph (Petroleum Resources, Downstream) and Hon. Victor Oyemachi Nwokolo (Petroleum Resources, Upstream).
Others are; Hon. Samson Okwu (Airforce), Hon. Rima Shawulu Kwewum (Army), Hon. Tobi Okechukwu (Works), Hon. Shaheed Akinade Fijabi (Telecommunications), Hon. Yusuf Tajudeen (Capital Market
and Institutions), Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki (Navy) and Hon. Muhammed Umaru Bago (Maritime Safety, Education and Administration).
For Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Tahir Monguno who headed same in the last dispensation was retained, though under a new name as Agricultural Production and Services, and so also were Hon. Jones Onyereri (Banking and Currency), Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Aviation), Hon. Shehu Shagari (Federal Judiciary) and Hon. Nnena Elendu-Ukeje (Foreign Affairs). Others in this category include Hon. Aminu Suleiman (Education), now as Tertiary Education and Services, and Nicholas Mutu (Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC), amongst others.
By distribution of the chairmanship as announced by Dogara, the majority party; All Progressives Congress (APC) got 48 slots, while the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was allocated 45 slots. Even the least political parties in terms of numerical strength of membership in the House, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) got a slot each.
To many observers, it was the first time in the history of the lower chamber of the National Assembly that the opposition would garner so much in terms of committee headship. But Dogara’s “magnanimity” to the opposition appeared to have pitched him against members of his party, the APC. The opposition camp, subtly dubbed as the APC loyalists group which in the speakership politicking were disposed to seeing Dogara’s opponent in the contest, Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker appeared to be the most disappointed.
Though a few members of the camp got some of the frontline committees, but in the final analysis, key promoters of Gbajabiamila like Hon. Aliyu Madaki (Kano) and Ahmed Chachangi (Kaduna) lost out completely. Unconfirmed reports suggested that most of those who lost out in the appointments were already spoiling for war.
But observers said one of their major obstacles in causing any uprising in the House may be the new clauses introduced in the amended standing orders of the House. For instance, attempts at seizing the maze which represents the symbol of authority of the House at plenary has been banned, while other new codes of conduct of members were also adopted.
Just after Dogara announced the committee headships, there were permutations that all may not be well in the House in a matter of days, as those who lost out entirely, or what they got was far below their expectations are naturally bound to revolt. The Speaker was accused of handing over the House to the opposition in view of the number, as well as the “juicy” committee chairmanship given to members of the PDP. The nature of the revolt, may usually not be open confrontations, but calculated moves at undermining the stability of the House.
Key allies of the Speaker however discarded the suggestion, as in their defence, he has been fair to all, and also acted in line with the federal character principle. One of such defences was from the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Abdlurazak Namdas who denied the suggestion that Speaker Yakubu Dogara has in the constitution of committees, virtually gave the House over to the opposition.
He also argued that the opinion suggesting that APC as the majority party was not duly rewarded was not in order, since the party got 54 deputy chairmanship slots, which if added to the slots gained in chairmanship positions was large enough. “What the leadership (of the House) has done is to ensure that it runs an all-inclusive administration, and in such a way that all sections of the country is represented. Same has always reflected in the selection of the adhoc committees. It is a clear pan-Nigerian situation,” he had stated.
But true to prediction that some may not have been happy with what they eventually got, and what seemed as setting the stage for the revolt, former Deputy Minority Whip of the House, and a member of the APC from Kaduna State, Hon. Garba Datti on Tuesday rejected the chairmanship of the committee on Solid Minerals Development, saying he was not consulted before the announcement.
Though analysts said there may be more to the rejection than his simple reason of not being consulted, the lawmaker however insisted that he only acted as a principled democrat. He was later to be replaced with another APC member from Kaduna State, Hon. Samaila Suleiman on the same day. “I feel as a former principal officer, I should have been consulted before my name was announced. I just heard of it on the floor. And I have my own principles. I have decided on my own to withdraw as the chairman of that committee,” Datti had stated outside the chamber.
He however expressed confidence in the Dogara-led leadership of the House, stating that the Speaker was democratically elected by the 360 members. “I don’t have any qualms with the leadership as presently constituted, because the election was democratically done here. I am not against anybody but I am against the decision of coming to announce my name without consulting me. That is my reason,” he submitted.
The worst experience of clandestine revolution after the announcement of committee headship was noticed in the House during the sixth assembly, when Hon. Patricia Etteh held sway as Speaker, and later transited to Hon. Dimeji Bankole. The image of the House then was at its lowest ebb, as the lower chamber was dubbed as a haven of scandals due to regular revelations of alleged fraud against the Speaker. This was reduced drastically after the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Speaker of the seventh assembly of the House, with many seeing him as a master dribbler, who tactically avoided any semblance of banana peels until his tenure ended.
Questions were therefore being asked on whether Dogara would be able to weather the looming storm as Tambuwal did. To many, it is yes since they saw the incumbent Speaker as Tambuwal’s student, who also received the blessings of the now Sokoto State Governor in the Speakership race. “Tambuwal is still alive, and all that is needed is for him (Dogara) to seek regular counseling from the former Speaker on how to manage the House. Though the current assembly may have its peculiarity, I believe with the solid support, out of experience by Tambuwal, he would succeed,” a keen follower of events in the House stated.
Analysts were also quick to point out that giving the PDP that much number of headship of committees was a deliberate plot by the Speaker, which besides rewarding their support for his emergence, wanted a bloc caucus to rely on in the event of any unforeseen uprising. To them, it would be pretty difficult for his antagonists to get the required numerical strength to impeach the Speaker or successfully push any agenda against the leadership, if the opposition continue to fully rally round him. Would it therefore remain a stable House in the light of the foregoing? Only time will tell.
