A motion seeking to ask President Goodluck Jonathan to rescind his decision on the constitution of a special committee to conduct a fresh recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service suffered setback at the House of Representatives.
The Deputy Speaker, who presided over the day’s plenary session, ordered that the motion be stood down following the tension it was already generating among members along party lines.
Ahmed Idris (Plateau, APC) had moved a motion asking the Executive Arm to reconsider the setting up of the special committee for NIS recruitment which he said was in clear violation of section 4 (2) of the Immigration Act Cap 12 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
He noted that the section confers powers exclusively on the Board of Immigration to make appointments, transfer, confirm, dismiss and exercise other disciplinary control.
Raising point of order, Hon. Ossai Ossai (Delta, PDP) called the attention of the House to the fact that no reference could be made to a matter for which the House had already taken a decision on a particular legislative year.
He reminded his colleagues that a resolution of the House had mandated a standing committee on Interior to perform certain legislative duties regarding the tragic NIS recruitment exercise.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the Minority Leader, stood up to insist that the motion did not violate any standing order of the House.
As the custodian of House Rules, the Chairman House Committee on Rules and Business, Sam Tsolwa, was asked to make comment as to whether or not the motion contravened the House Rules.
Tsokwa said since the motion bordered on the provision of an extant legislation and a motion similar in subject was already treated, he needed to find out whether the new motion could be entertained or not.
The deputy speaker then ruled that the motion be stood down till next legislative day to allow Tsokwa to properly guide the House on the matter.