Some ex-loyalists of former
Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila and members of the All Progressives
Congress Loyalists Group, on Saturday declared support for the House of
Representatives Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
The lawmakers claimed that they
had realised it was better to place the interest of the country ahead of all
other considerations to accept the positions of the principal officers of the
House as proposed by Dogara.
Gbajabiamila who is believed to
have the backing of the Loyalists Group, had for long insisted that the office
of Majority Leader must be zoned to the South-West and be held by him.
Members of the group who attended
a joint news briefing in Abuja with the Speaker’s group were Mr. Alhassan
Ado-Doguwa (Kano State); Mr. Mohammed Monguno (Borno State); and Mr. Pally
Iriase (Edo State).
The APC leadership, in a June 23
letter to Dogara, had recommended to zone the majority leader to the
South-West; deputy leader to North-West; chief whip to North-East and the
deputy whip to South-South.
However, the Speaker opposed it,
citing alleged violation of federal character principle, and instead, proposed
to zone the majority leader to the North-West.
Dogara also zoned the deputy
leader to the North-Central; chief whip to the South-South; and deputy whip to
the South-East.
By the Speaker’s proposal,
Ado-Doguwa will now become the majority leader, while a lawmaker from Kogi
State, Mr. Buba Jibrin, will become the deputy leader.
Mr. Pally Iriase from Edo State,
will become the chief whip, while the position of deputy whip which goes to the
South-East will be occupied by Mr. Chike Okafor.
Ado-Doguwa, Monguno and Iriase
were all Gbajabiamila’s men, but who had made U-turn to back Dogara.
They now subscribe to a new tune
and group, “Equity Forum.”
Dogara is set to name the
principal officers on Tuesday when the House would have reconvened from its
current four-week break.
Speaking on behalf of the
loyalists group, Iriase claimed that their change of mind was informed by the
realisation that the members had to comply with Section 14 of the 1999
Constitution, which dealt with federal character.
Iriase added, “Let Nigerians know
that the crisis in the House has been resolved.
“Based on the letter the speaker
wrote to the APC, under Section 13 of the constitution, he is to ensure
compliance with Section 14 (3) of the constitution.
“We have, therefore, accepted the
Speaker’s proposal on the equitable distribution of the principal positions.
“The majority of APC members in
the loyalists group have accepted these positions for the sake of promoting
equity.”
According to Iriase, the
loyalists group won a major victory over Dogara for being able to produce the
majority leader, deputy leader and chief whip.
Ado-Doguwa also spoke at the
session, saying he backed the position of the group as explained by Iriase.
He said he accepted to be the
House leader because he realised the group must give up fighting for the sake
of rescuing the country’s democracy from further crises.
“We reached a point that we just
agreed that the interest of the whole nation supersedes any other.
“Where we are now is okay for us
as a group and we must sheathe our swords and move on,” he added.
On his part, Monguno looked
weighed down when he said that by agreeing to team up with the Speaker, he knew
he had become one of the biggest losers.
Monguno had wanted to be the
Seaker, but stepped down for Gbajabiamila. He also contested the post of deputy
leader and lost to the current occupant, Mr. Yusuf Lasun.
The APC later proposed him to be
the chief whip but he also agreed to swap the position with Iriase, who was
initially nominated as deputy whip by the party.
His case worsened when Dogara’s
proposal excluded his zone, North-East, from the four contested principal
offices.
“Ordinary, I should have been the
last person to be part of this meeting, considering the fact that, all along, I
have been the one making the sacrifice.
“Ultimately, I have become the
loser in all of this. But, for the interest of the nation and the House, I have
accepted to work with this arrangement,” Monguno stated.
The spokesman of the House
Dogara, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, had also confirmed that the new development
signalled the end of the crisis.
Jibrin promised that the loyalists
group, particularly Gbajabiamila and Monguno, would be adequately compensated
in the distribution of key committees in the days ahead.
He said, “We have commenced
collection of signatures which has reached advanced stage to affirm the Dogara
formula.
“All other interests, including
those excluded from the principal officers, specifically, Gbajabiamila and
Mongunu, will be duly accommodated with commensurate responsibility to serve.
“Since the Speaker has about 200
positions to share out, many members will have the opportunity to serve the
country.”
However, Gbajabiamila was not at
the session.
SUNDAY PUNCH made fruitless
efforts to get Gbajabiamila to comment on the development on Saturday. He
neither answered calls made to his telephones nor returned our correspondent’s
calls.
He had also not replied to any of
the text messages sent to him on the matter as of 3.28pm.
Spokesman of the APC loyalists
group, Mr. Nasiru Zango-Daura, however issued a statement, saying the group
would not support the sharing arrangement adopted by Ado-Doguwa, Monguno and
Iriase.
The one-paragraph statement read,
“The APC Loyalists Group hereby denies and unequivocally rejects any purported
endorsement of a so -called formula on the APC leadership in the House of
Representatives. Any member of our group who claims to be part of this
arrangement acts on his own and not on behalf of the group.”
Meanwhile, there is a suit fixed
for hearing at an Abuja Federal High Court on Tuesday on the same crisis.
The suit, which was filed by two
APC members, is seeking an injunction stopping Dogara from naming any principal
officers other than those recommended by the party.
Copyright PUNCH.
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