House of Representatives: Awaiting the Committees

 

After a hectic tussle for principal positions, the House of Representatives is now faced with the challenge of handling the distribution of committee posts without the rancour that attended the previous exercise. Damilola Oyedele writes

Although, most lawmakers insist the tag, ‘juicy’ committees, is a coinage by the media that does not really exist, it is common knowledge that there is always intense lobbying and scrambling for the headship and membership of certain committees. Such committees include Finance, Petroleum (upstream and downstream sectors), Public Accounts, Appropriation, Public Procurement, Federal Capital Territory, Defence, House Services and Welfare, Air Force, Army, Navy, Education, Customs and Excise, Works, Health, Marine Transport, Foreign Affairs, Power, Pensions, Public Procurements, Niger Delta Development Commission, and Housing.

Much Ado About Lucrative Committees
Already, the distribution of the committees was fingered as part of the issues at the root of the recent disagreements over principal positions in the House. There were reports that during the contest for speakership, some lawmakers had approached the contestants, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, to try to extract promises of leadership of certain committees, in exchange for mobilisation of votes.

Gbajabiamila, in an interview after emerging House Leader, confirmed the reports. He, however, noted there was nothing wrong with members lobbying to be part of committees where they feel they can make more impact.

“Yes, a lot of members approached me, but one thing I did not do, which was important to me on principle, was to make commitment to anybody. I did not make any commitment to any single individual because when I make commitments, I try to keep my commitments and promises. To me, it would not have been right to commit one way or the other,” the House Leader admitted.
During the tussle for principal positions, which had stalled plenary for about seven weeks, it was again alleged that the same issue was the reason the matter did not get a quick resolution.

Spokesperson of the Consolidation Group, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim, had also alleged that the distribution of committees was the reason why some members of the Loyalists Group remained adamant and rejected the formula proposed by Dogara.

Abdulmumim told THISDAY by telephone at the time that since the Speaker had made it clear he would compensate Gbajabiamila with “commensurate” position (before his emergence as leader), some members of the Loyalists’ Group wanted assurance for “juicy” committees before supporting the Dogara formula.

“The Speaker told them no member of the House has been promised anything. He told them to wait until the bridge on the principal positions has been crossed before looking into the committees. He also gave his word that he would be fair to everyone. But they brought out a list with their names on it, and insisted he mention what committee he would give each of them.  The Speaker declined,” Abdulmumim said.

The legislative agenda for the Eighth House, which was adopted on August 4 by the members, noted that the appointment of the leadership and membership of the committees will reflect the experiences and capacity of the members in different fields.
“We shall place round pegs in round holes,” the agenda read.

Lobbying
Despite this agreement, THISDAY gathered that intense lobbying was already going on for the composition of the aforementioned committees. The leadership of the House faces the challenge of overseeing the distribution of the committee positions in a manner that would not cause another round of crisis.

It was further gathered that despite claims to the contrary, the leaders of the House would want to compensate their key allies and supporters, to ensure their efforts were not in vain. Dogara, during plenary Thursday, announced that the selection committee to oversee the leadership and membership of House standing committees would hold its inaugural meeting next Tuesday.

He said this to correct impressions that the committee had been holding meetings and added that state representatives on the selection committee were responsible for coordinating their caucuses on filling forms to indicate areas of competence.

Statutorily, the Speaker of the House chairs the section committee, while the Deputy Speaker is the deputy chairman. The House Leader, Deputy House Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip are also statutory members of the committee.

Representatives from the states as announced by the Speaker at the constitution of the selection committee include Hon. Tata Umar (Bauchi APC ), Hon. Emmanuel Udende (Benue PDP), Hon. Satumari Jibril (Borno APC), Hon. Mutu Nicholas (Delta PDP), Hon. Adekola Segun (Ekiti PDP), Hon. Patrick Asadu (Enugu PDP), Hon. Zaphaniah Jisalo (FCT PDP), Hon. Aishatu Dukku (Gombe APC), Hon. Goodluck Opiah (Imo PDP), Hon. Mohammed Sani Zorro (Jigawa APC), Hon. Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna APC), Hon. Mustapha Bala Dawaki (Kano APC), Hon. Babangida Ibrahim (Katsina APC), Hon. Husseini Kangiwa (Kebbi APC) and Hon. Benjamin Ikani Okolo (Kogi APC).

Others are Hon. Abubakar Garba (Kwara APC), Hon. Yakubu Balogun (Lagos APC), Hon. Mohammed Onawo (Nasarawa PDP), Hon. Umar Bago (Niger APC), Hon. Timothy Golu (Plateau PDP), Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki (Sokoto APC), and Hon. Linus Okorie (Ebonyi PDP).