The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has met separately with the Speaker, House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara and House Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila over appointment of committee heads which has plunged the House into a fresh round of crisis.
Oyegun, it was gathered, first met with Gbajabiamila and later Dogara, who was accompanied by his Deputy Yussuff Sulaimon Lasun, at his Asokoro, Abuja residence Friday morning.
“Party met with only Speaker and his Deputy this morning as they already did same with Leader few days ago concerning [the] Committee crisis,” a senior legislative source privy to the meeting and who asked not to be named confirmed.
When contacted, Dogara’s spokesman Turaki Hassan said he was unable to confirm the meeting. “I am not aware of the meetings so I can’t confirm or refute,” he said on phone.
However, it was learnt that Oyegun in a reconciliatory move summoned Dogara and Gbajabiamila after Dogara was accused by Gbajabiamila of not consulting with Principal Officers in the appointment of the chairmen and deputies of the 96 Standing Committees of the House announced on October 22.
Making the allegation in a leaked protest letter dated, October 20, 2015, Gbajabiamila said the Speaker’s action breached provisions of the House Rules, Order 7 Rule 10, paragraph (a) which states that the Speaker “shall in consultation with principal officers, appoint the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen from among the members on the committee.”
In a swift refutal, Dogara’s office released two memos allegedly showing that the appointment of committee heads was jointly done by the leadership of the House comprising all principal officers at a scheduled meeting.
The memos included a letter of invitation sent to all the nine principal officers (including Gbajabiamia) dated, October 21, 2015 by the Chief of Staff to the Speaker, Hon. Jerry Manwe. They were to consult on appointment of committee heads on Thursday, October 22, 2015.
The other memo was a list of attendance containing all the nine principal officers dated, October 22, issued after the said meeting.
APC loyalists maintain that the composition and quality of the headships of the committees were skewed in favour of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, whose support helped Dogara become Speaker against Gbajabiamila, who was supported by the party. They have accused the Speaker of weakening the caucus going by the composition of the committees’ headship.
Dogara has reportedly shunned entreaties from members of his party, the ruling APC, to review the list of committee heads in a way that gives APC a comfortable hold on the leadership of the House.
The Speaker met behind closed doors on Tuesday with all Chairmen and Deputies in what was termed a “familiarisation meeting”. Gbajabiamila did not attend the meeting despite an invitation, it was gathered.
At the meeting, it was learnt that the Speaker made it clear that the committees were composed to reflect what he called ‘bi-partisan cohesion’ and national interest and was not ready to re-distribute the committee headship.
Recall that 96 Standing Committee chairmen and their deputies were appointed – APC got 48 to PDP’s 45. In a further breakdown, APC got 55 Deputy chairmen while the PDP caucus accounted for 39.
-Leadership
