Despite concerted efforts at
resolving the leadership crisis at both the Senate and the House of
Representatives, it thus appear that respite is the last thing coming the way
of the Assembly. STANLEY NKWOCHA writes
What began like a thug of war had
since degenerated into a full fledged war with combatants vowing not to make a
retreat , much less surrender. Such is the dilemma of the 8th Assembly as
presently constituted.
While a bit of calmness has
returned to the Senate and attention shifted to the courts as reports of the
investigation launched by the Nigeria Police is being awaited over allegations
of ‘forgery’ of the 8th Senate’s rules, the folks at the House of Reps are yet
to find their bearing as they continue the banter over other house leadership
positions, especially as it concerns the majority leader and the chief whip.
Recall that since becoming the
Speaker, Honorable Yakubu Dogara has being embroiled in the controversy of
which zone or candidate should emerge the majority leader. Moves by the party
and some Reps to make Femi Gbajabiamila the majority leader has met the Speaker
and his acolytes’ stiff resistance, pummeling the House into the seeming
intractable crisis it has been in – a situation which has denied it sittings.
However, if the events of the
past week are anything to go by, it thus appear that perhaps Gbajabiamila’s
group’s pride and ego has been bruised and may just succumb to the strains of
their prolonged muscle flexing.
This follows what appears to be a
crack in the ranks of members loyal to the Lagos born legislator as some of the
lawmakers have asked the APC leadership to accept Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s
position on zoning of the House’s leadership as it relates to appointment of
principal officers.
Dogara had written to the
National Chairman of the APC and asserted that he could not honour the request
of the party to appoint Mr. Gbajabiamila as House leader saying it would fuel
imbalance in the federal character since the South West region where Mr.
Gbajabiamila comes from had already produced the Deputy Speaker.
The Speaker said he would rather
have the position of House leader zoned to the north-west, and deputy leader to
north central even if he yielded to the demands of the Gbajabiamila group that
the slots came to them.
A statement signed by Abdulmumini
Jibrin, leader of the Dogara group, said its members had adopted Alhassan
Doguwa from north-west as House leader and Pally Iriase, from the South South,
as chief whip. The duo belong to Gbajabiamila’s group in the House.
Hon. Nasiru Daura from Katsina
State had in a letter to the party’s national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun,
insisted on party supremacy and caused a further stir in the crisis when he
announced that Gbajabiamila remained his group’s choice for majority leader.
Two members loyal to the group,
however, Mukhtari Dandutse from Katsina and Tijjani Jobe from Kano, led the
‘deflation punch’ when they issued a counter statement last Wednesday
distancing themselves and the loyalist group from the position taken by Daura.
Stating that Daura was on his own
as according to them, he had no powers to speak for the group, they revealed
that their group never
held a meeting to arrive at that
position.
“While we categorically reaffirm
our membership of the Loyalist Group and our unflinching allegiance to the
supremacy of the party, we wish to make public that the said letter did not
emanate from any formal or collective meeting of the group,” they said. APC’s
NEC, according to them had proposed and members accepted to engage the
immediate past Speaker of the House and Governor of Sokoto state, Aminu
Tambuwal’s led Reconciliation Committee.
“Let us stress, that it was at
this NEC meeting that the party recognized Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate
President and Hon Yakubu Dogara as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Similarly, it was after this NEC
meeting that we accepted to cooperate with the Tambuwal’s Reconciliation
Committee under the aegis of the All Progressive Party APC Governors Forum.
“In fact up to this moment, we
are confident in the Tambuwal’s Reconciliation Committee as we await its
report.
“While we want to use this medium
to dissociate ourselves from the letter by Hon Nasiru Zangon Daura to the
leadership of the Party, which to us is his personal views, we remain resolute
in the conflict resolution mechanism embarked by the leadership of the party
through the APC Governors Forum,” they said.
They further warned the APC to
“throw sentiments aside and accept the olive branch extended by the Speaker, so
as to achieve amicable resolution of “this lingering impasse in the House of
Representatives,” adding that “ they want to also use this medium to call on
all members of the Loyalist Group nationwide to bury their hatchet, embrace
peace and consider the interest of Nigeria first, above personal interests,”.
Would this be the turning point
for the House crisis? Is the ego, pride and muscle – flexing which has
disrupted proceedings at the House of Reps set to blow over? Is the House of
Reps set to turn a new leaf?
It is the hope of many Nigerians
that the resumption of the House of Reps next week will be devoid of the
rancour of the past and progress made on the discharge of legislative duties to
Nigerians.
Credit: Leadership
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