Reps’ crisis over ‘juicy’ committees worsens

AUGUST 17, 2015 : JOHN AMEH
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Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
Squabbles over key House of Representatives committees
among lawmakers have worsened, leading to mounting tension
between members of the All Progressives Congress and the
main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu
Dogara, was also facing tough times on how to keep “pre-
election agreements” he reportedly had with some lawmakers
before the June 9 speakership poll.
Key committees are referred to as ‘juicy committees’ by
lawmakers, a term suggesting that such committees are
lucrative and confer certain advantages on the chairmen or the
members over others.
The Speaker, under the rules of the House, chairs the Selection
Committee, which has the responsibility of appointing the
chairmen of standing committees.
There are over 94 standing committees of the House waiting to
be named.
Although principal officers and state caucuses also sit on the
committee, the prerogative of deciding the chairmen remains the
Speaker’s.
Investigations showed that the committee started sitting last
week as members proceeded on a six-week recess to reconvene
on September 29.
But The PUNCH learnt that some members demanded
chairmanship of particular committees as compensation for
working hard to ensure that Dogara emerged as the Speaker.
The committees keenly sought as of Sunday were Committee on
Petroleum Resources (Upstream); Committee on Petroleum
Resources (Downstream); Committee on Appropriation;
Committee on Finance; Committee on Communications;
Committee on Power; Committee on Works; Committee on
Customs; Committee on NDDC; Committee on Electoral Matters;
Committee on Gas; Committee on Aviation; Committee on
Baking/Currency; Committee on House Services; Committee on
Water Resources; Committee on Agriculture; Committee on
Education; and Committee on Defence.
Findings indicated that there were some PDP lawmakers who
insisted on heading the committees on petroleum resources as
rewards for backing the Speaker.
However, the APC members opposed the bid on the grounds
that high-profile committees were rarely given to opposition
members, “no matter the circumstances.”
A popular female lawmaker from the South-South is said to be
the leader of the PDP group from the zone insisting on heading
the petroleum committees.
“The member in question wants to chair the Committee on
Petroleum Resources (upstream), saying that the Speaker gave
his word during the election campaigns.
“But, last week when she approached him (Dogara) to remind
him of his promise, the Speaker told her to wait for committees
that would be zoned to her state first,” a National Assembly
official informed The PUNCH on Sunday.
Dogara’s “diplomatic” response was said to have come after the
APC lawmakers protested that such key committees were not
meant for opposition members.
Similarly, two senior PDP lawmakers from the South-East are
insisting on retaining their ‘Grade A’ committees.
One of the committees oversees multi-billion naira operations in
the transportation sector.
“The problem now is that another influential APC member from
the North-Central is opposing them and argues that a Grade A
committee should naturally go to an APC member.
“In the days of former Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, no opposition
party member was given such committees in spite of the fact
that the then Action Congress of Nigeria helped Tambuwal to
emerge as the Speaker,” the source stated.
But the PDP members reportedly told Dogara that “agreement is
agreement,” and that the Speaker must keep to his pre-election
promise.
The PUNCH gathered that the most contested committee
remained the Committee on Appropriation, which had torn three
senior APC members apart.
Two of the members, from Kano and Kwara states respectively,
were among the few APC lawmakers who risked being punished
by the APC for daring to support Dogara’s emergence.
The third member is from Katsina State, President Muhammadu
Buhari’s home state.
However, investigations revealed that the chairmanship of three
committees, defence, education and judiciary, had been decided
by the Selection Committees.
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