• Tambuwal, Oshiomhole c’ttees to submit reports
Ahead of the National Assembly’s resumption on July 28,
governors on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) will meet with all
senators and House of Representatives’ members in Abuja with a view to ending
the protracted crisis rocking the APC caucus in the federal parliament.
One of the senators told THISDAY in confidence at the weekend
that all APC senators and House members have been asked to make it a date with
history, as the two committees headed by the Governor of Edo State, Adams
Oshiomhole, and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, would also be
expected to present their reports at the meeting.
At the last meeting of the governors with the combatant
lawmakers on July 4 at the Imo governor’s lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, the Tambuwal
committee was mandated to come up with a suitable solution to the crisis while
the peace committee headed by Oshiomhole was tasked with drawing up a
reconciliation plan for the warring lawmakers in both chambers of the National
Assembly.
The senator told THISDAY that the objective of the meeting is
to ensure that the protracted crisis rocking the APC caucus is nipped in the
bud once and for all to enable all APC lawmakers in the National Assembly
sheath their swords and simultaneously forge a sense of unity that would enable
them to move forward as members of one fold without prejudice.
He said: “Our resumption had been postponed from July 21 to
July 28. The APC governors will meet with us on July 25. They have asked all of
us to come so that we can sort things out. The Tambuwal and Oshiomhole
committees will report to the House.
“We need to sit down and solve our problems so that we can do
the confirmation of the service chiefs and later the confirmation of
ministerial nominees and move ahead.”
The source also said the introduction of Order 3(2iv) into
the Senate Standing Rules which provides that chairmanship positions should be
shared on the basis of geopolitical zones would be carefully looked into to
avoid jeopardising the interest of APC which he said holds the majority in the
Senate.
He added that even though the committees would be shared with
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators on a geographical basis, the latter
would likely be assigned to head less influential committees with only very few
strong ones conceded to them while the APC would mainly preside over the
productive committees.
“We will know how to share the committees. We will look at
the committees and look at the ones that should go to them without jeopardising
the chances of our party. We have to be very careful. We have to look at those
things. We have to look at the strong committees that we can give to them. What
is happening is democracy in action. It will make us stronger,” he said.
However, the thinking among pundits is that it will take
divine intervention for the lawmakers to come out of the meeting on July 25
beaming with smiles, as each of the factions has held on to its positions
without conceding an inch.
For instance, the Senate Unity Forum has refused to be
pacified over its loss of the Senate presidency to the rival Senators of Like
Minds, as well as the refusal of Senate President Bukola Saraki to accede to
the nominations of his rivals, Senator Ahmad Lawan and Senator George Akume, by
the party as Senate Leader and Deputy Senate Leader respectively.
The Unity Forum, which is also pursuing the allegation of
forgery of 2015 Senate Standing Orders which it said helped Saraki and his
Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, to emerge at the June 9 election of the Senate
President and Deputy Senate President with the intention of declaring the
elections illegal, has also vowed to resist the sudden introduction of Order
(2iv) which offers PDP controlled zones the opportunity to occupy equal
chairmanship positions with APC into the Senate Rules.
Credit: Thisday
No comments:
Post a Comment