It is apparent that all have not been well between Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, since the outset of the 8th National Assembly, despite all effort to bury the ill-feelings. The October 22, 2015 event when Dogara made public, names of members selected to head committees of the House re-opened the wounds. JOSHUA EGBODO reviews the issues, and what led to the current disquiet in the Lower House.
Prior to the formal announcement of the 96 chairmen and their deputies for the special and standing committees of the House of Representatives, by Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara on October 22, 2015, it was not unexpected, like in the past assemblies that there may be the aftermath grumblings by those who would see themselves to have lost out.
Few days after the announcement, former Deputy Minority Whip of the House, Hon. Garba Datti rose on the floor of the House, and announced his rejection of the chiarmanship of the committee on solid minerals offered him by Dogara, citing Dogara’s failure to consult him before the appointment.
He was to be followed days after by other two members, Hon. Sunday Adepoju and Hassan Saleh. Adepoju was earlier named deputy chairman of the committee on Special Duties, and Saleh, Deputy for the committee on Local Content.
There were insinuations then that the House Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who was Dogara’s opponent in the Speakership race was the brain brain behind the rejections, as reports were that more were planning to dump theirs in a manner that would “embarrass the Speaker”.
Permutations that all may not be going on well between the House Leader and Dogara after the announcement of the committee chairmen was seemingly confirmed when Gbajabiamila made public, a letter he wrote the Speaker just about 48 hours before the leaders were announced. Gbajabiamila in the letter lamented how he was being sidelined by the Speaker in the appointment of the chairmen, even when he was making suggestions to the Speaker that there was need to carry him along.
The House Leader in the letter addressed to the Speaker stated in part; “You would recall that I have on several occasions, met with you both at home and your office to get an understanding and appreciation of what was going on with the composition and appointment of Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of House Committees.
“I did this because of the incessant rumour that same had been composed. On each occasion you assured me that nothing had been done. From all indications however, it appears that an announcement of Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen is imminent and such may be done this week.
“Hon. Speaker, I acknowledge your right and prerogative to determine the leadership of the House Committees and I intend to work with you after such determination has been made. I intend and have stated on many occasions privately and publicly to work with you for the progress of the House. However, I am constrained at this point to ask that due consideration is given to the provisions of our House Rules.”
Gbajabiamila specifically cited Order 7 Rule 10 (a) which stated that the Speaker shall in consultation with principal officers, appoint the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen from among members on the committees, arguing that undermining the Leader or any other principal officer would weaken the legislature, and that where any of such officers would be aware of the appointments after a floor announcement might not augur well.
However, Dogara’s office in a counter move also made public, a communication signed by his Chief of Staff, Jerry Manwe, dated Wednesday October 21, 2015 to the effect that all the principal officers of the House were duly summoned to a meeting slated for 9am on October 22, 2015, with the sole agenda of “Constitution of Committees,” suggesting that other members of the leadership were duly consulted before the announcement.
Some followers of events in the House, especially of the pro-Gbajabiamila’s camp described the said summon for the meeting with other principal officers as an after-thought, which was prompted by the Leader’s expression of concern over the manner in which the affair of selecting the committees heads was handled by Dogara.
The Gbajabiamila’s camp, which since the days of the Speakership tussle, saw itself as a group promoting the course of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) accused the Speaker of giving so much to the opposition in the sharing of the committees’ leadership, an action they described was not practiced, even in the advanced democracies, insisting that the composition must be reviewed
The grandstanding was to continue until Monday November 9, 2015 when Gbajabiamila boycotted a special session organized by the House to jointly inaugurate the committees. When the session lasts, about 22 of his supporters were meeting at the APC headquarters in Abuja, after which they addressed a press conference, led by Hon. Musa Sarki Adar where they rejected the committees’ setting as hitherto composed, saying they were speaking on behalf of the APC Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Gbajabiamila’s boycott of the special session, (though later explanations suggested that he missed his flight from Lagos to Abuja that morning), and the action of his colleagues was to add a new twist to the entire saga, creating a big crack within his camp.
The APC Caucus in the House was also not happy with the action of his supporters, as there were arguments to the effect that 22 people cannot claim to be speaking on behalf of over 200 members of the party’s Caucus in the green chamber.
There were thus, moves prior to Tuesday’s plenary session by some of the APC members to oust the House Leader. A text message was circulated to members ahead of the day’s sitting to gather support for a vote of no confidence against the House Leader. The text message, puported to be coming from a group called “Members United For Change,” as obtained by reporters reads;
“Honorable colleagues, how long can we continue to condone the irresponsible efforts of the House Leader to derail the peace and unity of the House? Is he the only member in Nigeria? His absence at the special session today clearly shows his intentions and his unsuitability for this position. Enough is enough. It is time for change. Gbaja Must go! Join us in declaring a vote of no confidence on the House Leader”.
Their anger, according to some was a feeling of betrayal by Gbajabiamila, who they assumed was misleading them. He was accused of pushing his loyalists to reject their allotted positions in the headship of committees, while he held on to the position of the Majority Leader. “If he is not selfish, he should lead by example by resigning as House Leader, before asking others to reject their committees,” a member said.
Though there were allegations that Dogara may have made some clandestine moves that infiltrated his opposition camp, the storm appeared to have been calmed though an alleged smart move by Gbajabiamila, who as soon as getting wind of the plot to remove him, went to the Speaker “to beg” and saved his head. He reportedly explained to the Speaker that he was only acting to keep the APC’s interest alive, and that he could no longer continue on that line as it was glaring that he may end up alone.
What seemed to have truly confirm his new resolve was his first time appearance with Dogara at a function on Wednesday, when the special committee constituted to help suggests areas of amendments to some of the nation’s obsolete laws, presented its report to the Speaker.
The House was also to later declare formally that there was no more rift in the chamber over the headship of committees, through its Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Jonathan Gaza, who revealed that the resolution of the crisis was fallout of a meeting between Dogara and Gbajabiamila, where both leaders have agreed to work together for in the interest of the country.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the lawmaker stated; “Dogara and Gbajabiamila had a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) and I believe that they were able to reach an amicable resolution and everything is okay.
They are ready to give Nigerians the direction that they want.”
To many analysts therefore, now that the storm is seemingly over, what next? The nation’s 2016 budget is being expected from President Muhammadu Buhari. There is the Constitution amendment and Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), and many other legislations the House, through its adopted legislative agenda promised Nigerians. So they said it is now time for the real business, as politics is over.
