Gbajabiamila writes Dogara, accuses him of undermining principal officers

MAJORITY Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr.
Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu
Dogara, never consulted him before he appointed 96
chairmen and deputies of standing committees of the
House.
Though Gbajabiamila said it was the prerogative of the
speaker to appoint any member of the House to head its
committees, the majority leader nonetheless argued that
under the rules of the House, Dogara was required to
consult all principal officers while appointing committee
chairmen.
Gbajabiamila alleged, in an October 20 letter he wrote to
Dogara, just two days to October 22 when the speaker
named the committee heads, that his (Majority Leader’s)
office had not been accorded due recognition by the
speaker in the running of House affairs.
He specifically quoted Order 7 Rule 10, paragraph (a) of the
House rules, which states that the speaker “shall in
consultation with principal officers, appoint the chairmen
and deputy chairmen from among the members on the
committee.”
He also noted that as both House Leader and Majority
Leader, the rules provided that he should “liaise with
committee chairmen and other functionaries of the House”
for the smooth running of the legislature.
The letter, which was made available to our correspondent
in Abuja on Tuesday, confirmed an exclusive report by The
PUNCH last week that there was a cold war between Dogara
and Gbajabiamila over appointments into the committees.
However, the leadership of the House reacted by saying
that “Gbajabiamila was totally consulted” before Dogara
picked the chairmen.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs,
Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, who gave the side of the
leadership, explained that there was a difference between
consultation and the power of appointment.
Namdas said, “The leader was totally consulted in keeping
with our rules.
“But, we must not mix consultation with the power of
appointment. The same rules vest the power to appoint
chairmen and deputies wholly in the hands of the speaker.
“The speaker does not need to tell him after consultation
whom to appoint as a chairman or deputy chairman.
“In that case, the speaker did not in any way undermine his
office, because he consulted him totally.
“The speaker holds every member of the House in high
esteem, how much less the leader of the House.”
A copy of a letter from the speaker’s office to all principal
officers, dated October 21, 2015, indicated that they
(including Gbajabiamila) were all invited to a meeting with
Dogara on October 22 for consultation on committee
appointments.
The Gbajabiamila allegation came as Dogara held an
inaugural meeting with the chairmen and their deputies at
the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The majority of the chairmen and their deputies attended
the meeting, where Dogara and the committee leaders were
said to have discussed the modalities for the official
inauguration of the committees next week.
However, Mr. Garba Dhatti-Muhammad and Mr. Sunday
Adepoju, who had resigned as Chairman, Committee on
Solid Minerals Development, and Deputy Chairman,
Committee on Special Duties respectively, did not attend the
meeting.
But, findings by our correspondent indicated that the
meeting was reportedly called to douse tension and halt
further threats by some chairmen to turn in their
resignation.
A source told our correspondent that Dogara at the meeting
advised the chairmen to see their appointment as a call to
national service.
‘‘He seized the opportunity to say that people would always
raise issues on committee composition, no matter who was
appointed.
“The chairmen, in appreciation of his speech, later gave the
speaker a standing ovation,” the source added.
There has been uneasiness in the House since October 22
when Dogara named the committees with one out of 96
chairmen rejecting his appointment and one deputy
chairman declining.
The two are members of the majority All Progressives
Congress, same as Dogara and Gbajabiamila.
Another deputy chairman, Mr. Hassan Saleh, of the Peoples
Democratic Party, also allegedly wrote to say he did not
want to be a deputy chairman.
Much of the complaints have come from APC lawmakers,
who are alleging that the party had not been fairly treated
by Dogara in the sharing of committee seats.
Out of the 96 committee seats, 48 chairmanship positions
went to the APC, while PDP got 45 slots.
Included in the PDP’s share are prime committees like
Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream); Committee
on Petroleum Resources (Downstream); Committee on Gas
Resources; Committee on Aviation; Committee on Power;
Committee on Works; Committee on NDDC; Committee on
Niger Delta; and Committee on Air Force.
Among the APC’s committees are Committee on
Appropriations; Committee on Finance; Committee on
Customs/Excise; Committee Defence; Committee on
Communications; and Committee on Agricultural Services.
But, some APC members felt that Dogara should have given
the committees on petroleum resources, gas resources,
power, works and aviation, among others, to the majority
party as well.
They observed that the difference between 48 and 45 was
three, meaning that the ruling party and the opposition
almost tied on the number of committees they got from the
speaker.
Ironically, some PDP members who got committee
appointments have also been grumbling that the speaker
should have given them bigger committees than they were
assigned on account of the “massive” support they gave
him to become the speaker.
As of Tuesday, no additional resignation has been recorded.