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  • Gbajabiamila’s group faults Dogara on federal character

    Gbajabiamila’s group faults Dogara on federal character

    Members of the House of Representatives supporting former Minority Leader  Femi Gbajabiamila have described Speaker Yakubu Dogara as hypocritical over his new stance on federal character for the selection of principal officers for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House.

    In a July 18 letter to the Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun and signed by Nasiru Sani Zangon-Daura, the group pointed out that it is  insincere that someone who was anti zoning will now be the person waiving the zoning card.

    The letter reads:“We find Hon. Dogara’s letter fraught with several fundamental flaws in his analysis and interpretation of the Constitution and House rules. This is to set the records straight.

    “We stand on our earlier position that whilst we accept and agree with the principle  of Federal Character, the Constitutional provisions in that regard are strictly in reference to the appointment to the Federal Executive and its agencies.

    “The principle of Federal Character is not intended to be given such elasticity to the extent that it would extend to the running and internal workings of the House which is not a government agency and whose members are not appointed but elected.

    “Assuming Federal Character was meant to be applicable to the National Assembly, then certainly one of the Houses of the National Assembly must be headed by a Southerner.

    “Remember sir, that in the run-up to the election of the Senate President and Speaker, our party made a deliberate choice, to apply this same principle of Federal Character such that all qualified zones will be represented in the spirit of national unity, which we embrace, but we all know how that ended.

    “Furthermore to accept the Speaker’s arrangement would mean the two most powerful positions in the Senate and House after the presiding officers would be occupied by the North.

    “Whilst we maintain that our party’s mantra of ‘Change’ for the growth and development of our dear nation requires that merit should not be sacrificed on the altar of zoning, we have painstakingly ensured that in the selection of our leaders in the House, all zones are represented, except the South East, which unfortunately, are currently excluded from holding leadership positions because the House Rules disqualifies ‘inexperienced’ members from holding leadership position. Unfortunately, all our party members from the South East are first term legislators.

    “The South East can be adequately compensated through other means without violating our rule on appointment of principal officers.

    “Hon. Dogara, in paragraph 7 of his letter quotes the provision of section 147 of the constitution which specifically requires that the President in appointing Ministers, shall observe the Federal Character principle as provided in section 14.

    “He has inadvertently made our point that Federal Character is applicable only to the executive and its agencies.

    “If the framers of our constitution had intended same to apply to the running of the legislature Houses, similar provisions which mandated the president specifically, would have been included in the case of the National Assembly.

    “This is how laws are interpreted and all lawyers know this including the Speaker. This legal principle of interpretation is known as the “exclusion unis “rule of interpretation

    “Again the Speaker referred to the Third Schedule Part 1c of the constitution which he quotes in part, leaving out vital provisions which would not support the position of zoning in the National Assembly.

    “We encourage the party to read this provision closely, particularly section 8 which lists the bodies over, which the Federal Character commission has jurisdiction.

    “Indeed, section 8 of the third schedule sets up the Federal Character commission and it provides as follows: ‘In giving effect to the provisions of section 14(3) and (4) of this constitution, the commission shall have the power to – (a). Work out an equitable formula subject to the approval of the National Assembly for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the public service of the federation and of the states, the armed forces of the federation, the Nigerian police force and other government security agencies, government owned companies and parastatals of the states…..’

    “Furthermore and more compelling is sub section 2 which states in defining meaning of political posts: ‘The posts mentioned in subparagraph 1 (a) and (b) shall include those of the permanent secretaries, directors general in extra ministerial departments and parastatals, directors in ministries and extra ministerial departments, senior military Officers, senior diplomatic posts and managerial cadres in the federal and state parastatals, bodies, agencies and institutions’.

    “These are all executive appointments and not legislative offices.

    The above proviso Mr. Chairman recognises Federal Character only as it relates to the executive and government agencies. The National Assembly is not recognised for that purpose.”

    “Hon Dogara in his letter wrote on issue of morality. It is on record and we hereby attach copies (Punch and Daily Trust) of the press conference granted by Hon Dogara sometime in May when it became apparent that the Party intended to zone the Speakership to the South West and Senate President to the North East.

    “Hon Dogara rejected the idea of zoning at that time insisting that zoning did not matter, which is why he went against our party’s recommendation, and contested for Speaker. Right now, the Senate President and the Speaker are both from the North.

    “We find it highly immoral, disingenuous, insincere and downright hypocritical, that someone who rejected and was anti zoning will now be the person waiving the zoning card when it serves his purpose. We cannot pick and choose or flip-flop on the application of zoning based on our whims and caprices and he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

    “The Constitution is to be read as a whole. To this end, the provisions of section 42 of the constitution is very relevant as it strengthens the argument that Federal Character is only applicable to appointments in the executive and not to legislative elective offices.

    “That section clearly prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity. However, it adds a proviso that such discrimination can be valid if based on Federal Character. The proviso reads: ‘Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes restrictions with respect to the appointment of any person to any office under the State or as a member of the armed forces of the Federation or a member of the Nigerian police force or to an office in the service of a body corporate established by any law in force in Nigeria’.

    “The above proviso Mr. Chairman recognizes Federal Character only as it relates to the executive and government agencies. The National Assembly is not so recognized for that purpose”.

    The group noted that the House standing rules derived from the constitution and so copiously quoted by the consolidation group did not support Dogara’s claims.

    The letter states further, “The House rules derive their legitimacy from the Constitution. Section 60 of the constitution states: ‘Subject to the provisions of this constitution, the Senate or the House shall have power to regulate its own procedure’.

    “We are surprised that in copiously quoting our House Rules, the Speaker’s letter did not address the most important Rule of all as it relates to appointment of Principal Officers. Order 7 Rule 37 of the House Rules states: ‘Only members with cognate legislative experience as members of the National Assembly shall be eligible for appointment as Principal Officers’.

    “This rule goes to the very heart of the issue of the South East not being represented in the majority party positions.

    “This rule is relevant because the thrust of the Speakers argument is that 1 zone cannot have 2 slots out of 6 slots open to the Party.

    “However before we can even begin to talk of zoning, one must first qualify for the office.

    “Unfortunately under the above rules the south east is disqualified. There are 2 members of APC from the zone and they are both new members and so by operation of law they are automatically disqualified.

    “The rule was put in place years ago, not in anticipation of disqualifying any zone, but to strengthen the institution. As stated, this rule is universal and exists in all parliaments world over and is not peculiar to Nigeria. Ranking is a legislative tradition.

    “There is a reason for this. Experience in legislative work, its nuances and complexities are acquired over time. This is why a new member with little or no prior legislative experience is not permitted to provide leadership to members with 4, 8, 12 or even 16 years’ experience.

    “We must begin to conduct our business as much as possible in line with international best practices. We believe and expect that our members from the South East will be given the opportunity to build their legislative experience during this Assembly, to enable them participate more in the next, by God’s grace.

    “From the above, it follows that the 6 positions can only be occupied by 5 zones which means 1 zone will as of necessity have 2 slots whether North West, North East, South West, South South or North Central.

    1. An erroneous impression has been created that the body of Principal Officers is a body of 6 members. This must be corrected. The Body of Principal Officers of the House of Representatives is one body with 10 members.

    “The Majority Party contributes 6 and the Minority Party contributes 4. The added advantage of two that the majority has is because it is able to produce the Speaker and Deputy because of numerical strength.

    “This body makes decisions together and leads the House together.  We believe that the South East is already represented in the body of Principal Officers by way of its new Deputy Minority Leader.

    “Worthy of note is that the minority party also complied with Order 7 rule 37 in electing their leaders. Otherwise they could have selected from their large pool of many gifted and brilliant new members from the South East.

    “In referring to history and enumerating past principal officers, the Speaker was not accurate when he claimed it was the House tradition to spread principal offices amongst the zones.

    “It was not the House tradition or policy. It was a PDP tradition (of which he was a member) and policy. This is not a PDP House and we should be careful not to introduce or pass off PDP policies as House policies. Nigerians voted for a break from such.

    “Indeed the opposition in the 6th and 7th assemblies had 2 members from the North West out of the 4 members it contributed to the body of Principal Officers.

    “Furthermore in the 7th Assembly of the 10 members of the Body of Principal Officers, the Speaker Tambuwal was from the North West like the then Vice President, the Deputy Minority Leader was from the North West and so was the Deputy Minority Whip making a total of 3 out of the 10 Principal officers and the remaining 5 zones shared the other 7. There was no issue then.

    “We all worked together in unity because we believed that merit was more important than ethnicity.

    “In his narrative and on the issue of concessions, the Speaker did not inform that the APC Loyalist Group had already conceded one of the leadership positions to the North Central and that the only zone left was the South East, which unfortunately is disqualified by operation of law”.

    Insisting that party supremacy is not peculiar to Nigeria, the group noted that the tradition was not coined in Nigeria, adding, “A Political Party is an institution and its supremacy is universal and not a Nigerian coinage.

    “It is on record that the Speaker defied the Party going into the elections and he is about to repeat such defiance.

    “The party must assert its authority over all its members the Speaker inclusive as none of us came to the House as independent candidates and we subscribed expressly and impliedly to the Party’s supremacy in political activities.

    “Article 9.2 of the APC constitution which we all subscribed to state: ‘Members of the party shall be obligated to affirm the party’s aims and objectives’.

    “The party’s letter to the Speaker on party positions forms part of the aims and objectives of the party.

    “Furthermore, the President himself has spoken severally that the Party is Supreme and its decision must be obeyed.

    “He said the same thing just recently at the NEC meeting. Nigerians have voted for the APC and thereby entrusted all political decisions to the party.

    “It is our intention that the mandate given to us by Nigerians should be utilized to the benefit of the entire nation and not just for a few.

    “This Party has bent over backwards for the Speaker and enough is enough. He refused zoning before the elections (see attached May Press conference) and because of his refusal the party decided to conduct primaries and allow the members themselves to decide, he refused that too and struck a deal with the opposition.

    “It seems for the Speaker who won his election by 8 marginal votes, it is his way or the high way. We cannot adopt this winner takes it all approach as it will be unfair to Nigerians.

    “Our party campaigned against the PDP’s impunity in all its ramifications and so did the Nigerian people and we cannot be seen to be condoning the very thing we condemned the PDP for.

    “That smacks of hypocrisy.

    “The people of Nigeria voted for change and that change includes not sacrificing merit on the altar of ethnicity.

    “We are not in doubt that all the shenanigans is merely a pretext to exclude our Principal Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, a man acknowledged to have served the House, Party and Country meritoriously, who was the face of opposition in the National Assembly and who led our Party from minority to majority in the House.

    “A man who gallantly congratulated Mr. Speaker after an unexpected loss and who extended a hand of cooperation to him severally.

    “Such injustice must not be allowed to stand.

    “Mr. Chairman the Party has spoken. If that isn’t enough, the APC members in the House have spoken on those they want as their leaders. What else is needed or what exactly is the agenda here?

    “A stitch in time saves nine. We must save our Party. We must save our

    nation”.

     

  • Dogara accused of blowing N66m on chartered aircraft

    Dogara accused of blowing N66m on chartered aircraft

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara is battling to fend off allegations that he blew N66 million on chartered aircraft.

    His aides and associates yesterday said about N3.9million was spent on an 80-minute return trip from Abuja to Delta State.

    They said the money was Dogara’s and not the National Assembly’s.

    The Speaker last week chartered an aircraft to attend the inauguration of a church.

    It was learnt that the Speaker decided not to use any aircraft in the presidential fleet because the trip was “private”.

    A few days after the trip,   some House members are claiming that such “a tasty lifestyle” is not in line with Dogara’s “Legislative Agenda”.

    Although House members are on holiday, the matter is being circulated among them.

    A pro-Dogara source described the insinuations as “politically motivated” because of the intrigues in the House.

    Some lawmakers queried  the sources of funding such trips since the movement of the Speaker is bankrolled by the National Assembly.

    A member of the House, who spoke in confidence, said: “The chartered aircraft palaver is being circulated among House members because of the alleged N66 million cost. We do not know whether the amount was real or imaginary. But it remains in the realm of allegation.

    “The challenge is that he who comes to equity must do so with clean hands. With the robust Legislative Agenda put in place by Dogara, this is no time for such a luxury. The same House of Representatives joined issues with the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources on the charter of a Bombardier aircraft.

    “Dogara needs to explain to members what really transpired. No APC member is expected to indulge in this type of luxury because the party came into office with an austere agenda.”

    Dogara, who is said to cherish Christian ethics, is reportedly weighed down by the allegation .

    The row over the chartered aircraft was said to have disturbed Dogara who felt there was a deliberate attempt to rubbish his image by some “political detractors”.

    The Speaker was said to have reached out to as many members as possible to explain that he did not dip his hands into the National Assembly’s coffers.

    Dogara’s aide said: “I am under instruction not to comment because it appears that those behind the allegation of N66million have another motive.

    “As at the time the Speaker made the trip to Delta State, there was no commercial flight at all.

    “It became necessary for him to use a chartered aircraft. The cost of the service was only N3.9million for a 40-minute flight to and from Delta State. Altogether, it was 80 minutes. And the aircraft only dropped the Speaker and returned to pick him and his entourage after his church assignment. Let me also clarify that the Speaker does not own a private jet.”

    A Non-Governmental Organisation, the Credible Alternative Alliance (CAA), under the national leadership of former Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa has cautioned “political merchants and enemies of good governance” against joining issues with Dogara “in their desperation to pull him down”.

    Speaking to journalists at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, the spokesman of the organisation, Mallam Sanusi Muhammad, said the recent financial allegation against Dogara was “meant to ridicule his personality and portray him as a scandalous leader that should not be trusted”.

    Sanusi added that the allegation that the Speaker blew N66 million on a chartered aircraft was an imagination of the social media and sponsors of the story to achieve a hidden agenda against Dogara.

    He said:  “We investigated the allegation from the airline operators and found it to be false and malicious. No airline charges such a colosal amount on chartered aircraft anywhere in Nigeria and the case of Dogara cannot be different.

    “The aircraft was chartered from his personal savings not as mischievously reported. He deserves the right to make a judicious use of his personal resources for his comfort. Political detractors and agents of doom were behind the news story that should be ignored. We should learn to say the truth no matter what.”

    Muhammad  said although Dogara is yet to be fully recognised as the duly elected Speaker of the Honorable House by a select few within the ruling party who have their reason (s), but an attempt to ridicule his reputation through baseless allegations is not the solution to the leadership crisis threatening the unity of the ruling party and the Honorable House.

    “APC leaders should strive to bury their imaginary differences to forge ahead as the formidable party it is. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other leaders should act fast to arrest the situation in the interest of democracy of good governance while planning for future encounter”, he added.

  • Saraki, Dogara, Yussuf, Mark others harp on national unity, peace

    Saraki, Dogara, Yussuf, Mark others harp on national unity, peace

    Senate President Bukola Saraki House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara stressed the importance of prayer in the development of the country yesterday.

    They spoke in their congratulatory messages to Muslims across the world on the successful completion of this year’s Ramadan fast and the celebration of Eid-el-Fitri.

    Mark, who spoke in a statement by his Media Adviser Yusuph Olaniyonu, urged Muslim faithful should intensify prayers for unity, peace and progress in Nigeria.

    He urged Muslims to adhere to one of the injunctions of Allah that formed the basis of sermons delivered in various mosques during the holy month that all citizens should pray for their leaders and their nation for divine guidance.

    The statement reads: “At this point in our national life, unity among all the different ethnic and religious groups will usher in peace and peace will engender progress and development.

    “We therefore need to learn to live together in peace, tolerate one another and eschew actions which can threaten the peace of the nation.

    “Muslims, in particular, should continue to demonstrate the fact that the meaning of Islam is peace and therefore we should learn to live in peace with people of other faith and tolerate one another.

    “We should also remember our fellow citizens in the North eastern part of the country who are being assailed by insurgents who call themselves Boko Haram.”

    Saraki urged all Nigerians to pray for the military in the war against the insurgents so that by the period of the next Ramadan, peace would have been totally restored to the whole of the Northeast and other parts of Nigeria.”

    Also yesterday, Speaker Dogara urged Nigerians to be optimistic of a better tomorrow  despite the harsh economic climate in the land.

    His deputy, Yussuf, also appealed for understanding as the President Mohammadu Buhari administration and the APC unfold plans on how to move the nation forward.

    Felicitating with Muslim faithful, Dogara called on all Nigerians not to relent in prayers for the peace, unity and development of the country.

    In the statement by his Media Adviser Turaki Hassan, the Speaker urged Nigerians, especially Muslims, to use the Sallah period to pray for the country to overcome the multifaceted challenges facing it.

    It reads: “He said that, more than ever before, the present crop of leaders are coming at a very difficult time when the country`s economy is in bad shape, and worsened by dwindling revenues, as leaders, we are ready and prepared to make the necessary sacrifice and lead by example.

    “The Speaker maintained that recent happenings in the country, especially the renewed attacks by the Boko Haram in the Northeast are source of concern, nonetheless, he expressed hope that Nigeria will surely over come.”

    Dogara described the resurgence of bombings of worship places by the insurgents as “last kicks of a dying horse and that it will soon be a thing of the past”.

    Commending President Muhammadu Buhari for the recent shake-up in the military high command with the appointment of new Service chiefs, Dogara promised the National Assembly’s support to ensure adequate funding and kitting of the military and other security agencies.

    Yussuf’s media aide said the deputy speaker has a strong belief that only unity that can bring about growth and development to the nation.

    A statement by Oladimeji reads: “The deputy speaker appealed to Nigerians be patient and allow the present government unfolds its plans on how to move the nation forward.

    “No meaningful development and achievement could be made under a hostile atmosphere which leads to instability.”

    Senator Mark urged for ceaseless prayer and  genuine resolve by all Nigerians  in the  war against insurgency in the country.

     The former Senate President called on all men of good will to rise to the challenge posed by the unabating terrorism being orchestrated by Boko Haram insurgents.

     Noting that the situation was pushing the country to the extreme, Mark said: “There is no hiding place any more.  We must face the reality of a war situation. We either confront the monster headlong or get consumed.”

    He bemoaned the agonies being unleashed on Nigerians “especially in the Northeast region that has led to millions of avoidable deaths, made our people refugees in their fatherland and destroyed property worth millions of naira.

    “I’m convinced that we can overcome our challenges including insecurity if we come together in an honest, sincere and committed manner. In these circumstances, we have no choice but to come together and confront our problem in a holistic way.”

  • Dogara replies Oyegun

    Dogara replies Oyegun

    HOUSE of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has replied a letter addressed to him on June 23 by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

    In the letter, the APC chair urged the lower legislative chamber to share the remaining four principal offices as follows: Chief Whip (Northeast); House Leader (Southwest); Deputy House Leader (Northwest) and Deputy Chief Whip (Southsouth.)

    But in his dated yesterday, Dogara said the House would have negated the federal character principle if it obeyed the party’s directive.

    He restated his earlier claim that a court case instituted by some members on the matter, made it impossible for him to make all necessary consultation on the chairman’s letter.

    Dogara also informed the APC leader of the need to respect Federal Character even as he enumerated the tradition of the House of Representatives regarding how principal officers are elected.

    He then proposed to the Odigie-Oyegun his own a list of zoning of principal offices that would best reflect the spirit of federal character. He suggested that the Northeast and Southwest having produced his as the Speaker and Lasun Yussuf as his deputy, should not be given an principal officer’s slot.

    Dogara proposed that the House Leader should come from the Northwest (with 86 APC members) Deputy House Leader from the Northcentral (with 33 APC members) and the Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip should come from the Southsouth and Southeast respectively.

  • How fuel subsidy can be removed, by Dogara

    How fuel subsidy can be removed, by Dogara

    THE only way to remove the contentious fuel subsidy is by amending or repealing the Price Control Act or through an Executive proclamation setting up the Price Control Board, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara said yesterday.

    Dogara spoke yesterday when he received the National Executive of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) led by its president, Elder Chinedu Okoro.

    He said: “You talked about bringing this product at no cost to the government; that implies to me the removal of subsidy. Now, I have had this discussion on so many platforms, but as a legislator, I can tell you there is something about subsidy removal that we are not looking at.

    “There is a Price Control Act; if you look at the PCA, Section 4 talks about regulating or controlling the prices of products that are listed in the first schedule of that Act. One of the products listed in the first schedule is petroleum products. So, by law in this country, we must control the price of petroleum products.

    “But the law as passed, parliament gives a window, prescribing and vesting the responsibility of adding up items on the schedule of the given items to the Price Control Board. I am not sure we have that board in place.

    “So, for any discussion then to be meaningful, you have to put pressure on the Executive. It is not the legislative work to constitute the board.

    “The board has to be put in place in line with the provisions of that law. So, as soon as the board is constituted, the members of the board can remove petroleum product from the schedule of the Act. In that way, subsidy is gone.

    “But in the absence of that, the only other alternative is for the NASS to amend the Act and remove petroleum products as one of the products in the schedule to the Act, or repeal the Act all together.

    “These are the only two avenues by which subsidy can lawfully be removed. Any other way will be ultra vires in abolishing subsidy; that is the truth.

    “The PCA  has clearly stated how subsidy can be removed and if this is the only thing you can achieve, to quickly talk to the executive so that they can constitute this board; let the board commence the right action in that direction.”

    Dogara described as “illegal”, the situation in which finished products are imported into the country.

    “I don’t know if there is any country that produces the kind of oil that is produced in Nigeria that refines outside its products. For me, it is kind of illegal. This is most inexcusable because we have turned this nation into a laughing stock.”Why is it that we can’t refine this oil here? Why is it that in an oil producing country, our brothers and sisters have to queue for nine hours to buy a product that should just be there?  This is something that I believe that with your expertise you need to leverage on.

    The IPMAN president said there was need for government to seriously consider a swap agreement in which the association would receive crude and supply the country with refined products without collecting any subsidy.

    This, he said, would save the country the foreign exchange.

    Okoro claimed that IPMAN in conjunction with its partners from Peru, are to inject $4 billion into two refineries – one each in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

    The two refineries will each have a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, he said.

  • How to remove fuel subsidy – Dogara

    How to remove fuel subsidy – Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has said the only way to remove the contentious fuel subsidy is by amending or repealing the Price Control Act or the executive proclamation setting up of the Price Control Board.

    Dogara spoke while receiving the National Executive of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) led by its president Elder Chinedu Okoro, on Monday.

    He said: “You talked about bringing this product at no cost to the government, that implies to me the removal of subsidy. Now, I have had this discussion several platforms, but as a legislature, I can tell you there is something about subsidy removal that we are not looking at.

    “There is a price control act, if you look at the PCA, Section 4 talks about regulating or controlling the prices of products that are listed in the first schedule of that act. One of the products listed in the first schedule is petroleum products, so by law in this country, we must control the price of petroleum products.

    “But the law as passed by parliament gives a window, prescribing and vesting the responsibility of adding up items on the schedule of the given items to the Price Control Board, and I am not sure we have that board in place.

    “So for any discussion then to be meaningful, you have to put pressure on the executive. it is not the legislative work to constitute the board.

    “The board has to be put in place in line with the provisions of that law. So as soon as the board is constituted, the members of the board can remove petroleum products from the schedule of the act, in that way, subsidy is gone.”

     

  • I won’t return to PDP, says Dogara

    I won’t return to PDP, says Dogara

    • Says people’s sovereignty greater than party supremacy

    House of RepresentativesSpeaker Yakubu Dogara  yesterday dismissed suggestion that he was planning to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said he would not be a party to the destruction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which he worked hard with others to build.

    Dogara who was apparently reacting to claims by his opponent in the June 9 contest for the speakership, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila that he (Dogara) and some of his APC supporters in the House were preparing ground for their defection to PDP said “only a fool will believe that.”

    Exchanging views with state chairmen of the APC who visited him in Abuja, the Speaker also said that those expecting the party to collapse on account of the leadership crisis rocking the party at the National Assembly would be disappointed.

    According to him, the party can only emerge stronger from the crisis that was not strange to party politics.

    His Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan said in a statement that Dogara however warned that any move to marginalize some members in the sharing of principal offices in the National Assembly may prove disastrous for the APC in the next general elections.

    He said: “I want to discountenance this very ludicrous and laughable discussion that some of us that some of us in the house are even conniving with some people so that we can defect.

    “Only a fool will believe that. We have toiled day and night we control the government at the centre and in our states. Then we park and move to a house that we deserted before, it is even unthinkable and unimaginable that someone will make such assertions.

    “We have been through a lot but obviously it is expected as it is a new party we are beginning to know ourselves. It was expected that from the beginning we would have some kind of friction but we cannot be consumed by those frictions. I guess that is one reason why we are here today”.

    On the issue of party supremacy, the Speaker said: “It is my deepest conviction as a student of democracy I know that democracy is loosely defined as government of the people by the people and for the people.

    “In actual fact, sovereignty in a democratic regime belongs to the people. The government is for the people and the party too is for the people.

    “Absolute supremacy must be anchored on the sovereignty of our people because if we don’t pursue the interest of our people, you can guarantee the fact that sooner than later there may be no APC. “So the people must be at the centre of whatever policy we formulate or whatever directive we will give to somebody from the party must have our people at the centre of that activity otherwise the people will rebel against us and we don’t pray for such.”He said his action and that of his supporters should not be viewed as signs of disloyalty to the party, saying, “All of us contributed immensely to the building of the APC. It is our duty to ensure that the party survives. And they say it is only a mad man that will use the same hands that he used in building a house to pull it down. We are not mad, we are not fools.”

    The Speaker, however, warned that to marginalise some zones in the sharing of positions principal officers of the National Assembly would cost the party in the next election.

    “We have to extend the hands of friendship and brotherhood to them to ensure that we strengthened their position so that we can make considerable inroad into those states.

    “If we don’t do that then we should be counting our days because if Nigerians didn’t save PDP, if we mess up they won’t save us. We owe more than just passing interest in ensuring that we continue in the task of rebuilding the APC.”

    He urged the leadership of the party to place national interest above personal ambitions as he hoped to partner PDP in moving the House forward.

    “There was one judge who once remarked that there is one consideration that is even above the constitution even though the constitution of the land is the supreme law, the grand norm but the constitution does not even acknowledge it, he said that consideration is national interest. If there is no Nigerian there won’t be Nigerian constitution.

    “As long as we put this national interest forward we are not going to have a problem, we want to be in this for the long hold and not a sprint race but rather a marathon.

    “Sincerely speaking we cannot afford that APC becomes an exclusive club of certain privileged people. We must spread our hands otherwise we will diminish. And that therefore means that the work has just begun especially in states that we are not in power. “The House is always a one house, we work in such a way that we keep the house united in spite of our political party affiliations.

    “If we have divisions in the House and if that division is sharply along partisan lines, most of the instructions you will give us in form of programme that you send to us through the executive may suffer delay.

    “Our people will expect that we use our majority position to bring about leadership with cooperation from even the opposition party and deliver the promise of change.”

    The delegation was led by acting Chairman, Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa, who is also the Kano state APC chairman.

  • Buhari to Saraki, Dogara: I’m for party supremacy

    Buhari to Saraki, Dogara: I’m for party supremacy

    President Muhammadu Buhari will tell Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara today that they should respect party supremacy in the choice of principal officers of the National Assembly, it was learnt last night.

    Buhari will attend today’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of his party – the All Progressives Congress (APC)  – the first since it won the presidential election and the breakout of the crisis over the National Assembly’s principal officers’ elections.

    Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu gave an insight into what the President will tell his party members today in a statement last night.

    He said Buhari was “thoroughly disappointed” about what happened at the Senate where Senate President Saraki not only defied his party, but a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Ike Ekweremadu, was elected Deputy Senate President.

    Shehu, who was clearing the air on Wednesday night’s meeting the President had with House of Representatives member Femi Gbajabiamila and 30 others, said: ”It was a mistake, possibly our own, to have assumed that Speaker (Yakubu) Dogara was expected at the meeting with the President yesterday (Wednesday).

    “He was not invited because he had had his own meeting with the President earlier on.

    “The President having heard from the Speaker needed to hear out Gbajabiamila and the 174 APC loyalist-members behind him.

    “When he met the representatives of the APC caucus on Tuesday night, President Buhari rued the fact that ‘we won the battle and lost the war’. Without mentioning names, he said that ‘those who went with the PDP know that they are killing the APC’.

    “He said he was thoroughly disappointed about what happened in the Senate and was still agonising over it, but equally blamed the APC majority for failing to assert their numerical superiority.

    “He said he expected Senator Saraki and Dogara to bend in deference to the party leadership, because, as he said, ‘we have to make the choice of either having a party or none at all. I believe in the superiority of the party over all members so this issue and all others, I will continue to stand with the party,” the President told the meeting.

    “President Buhari is also expected to emphasise at tomorrow’s (today’s) NEC meeting that he is a product of the party’s due process himself, and would not allow due process to end with him.”

    Gbajabiamila is confident that the party will insist on its supremacy.

    He said: “We all know the President is a party man. He believes in party supremacy”.

    The 174 APC members of the House loyal to Gbajabiamila urged the President to prevail on Dogara to abide by the APC’s decision and announce the remaining four principal officers.

    APC wanted Gbajabiamila to be Majority Leader, Alhassan Doguwa Deputy Leader, Mohammad Monguno Chief Whip and Pally Iriase Deputy Chief Whip.

    But Dogara and his group –  in a replica of the Senate scenario –  are not disposed to the party’s position.

    Urging Buhari to call to order the 39 disloyal APC members, who have colluded with the PDP members in the House to undermine the APC, the group said the Federal Character principle being thrown up by Dogara and his loyalists cannot apply to National Assembly as it did not apply in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.

    If it must apply now in the 8th National Assembly, the group said, either Senate President Saraki or Dogara must step down as they are both from the North.

    A copy of the group’s presentation to Buhari reads: “On the 9th of June, 2015, 174 APC members in the House faithfully and loyally followed the directives of the party to vote for Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon. Mongunu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker while 39 other APC members colluded with the opposition party, the PDP, to elect the current Speaker and Deputy Speaker with only 8 votes superiority.

    “Whereas the candidates of the majority (Gbajabiamila and Mongunu) openly congratulated the winners and continued to cooperate with the House, the opposition and the 39 APC members continued to hold the APC leadership in contempt.

    “Whereas we the 174 party faithful and loyalists had been obedient to the party, what shall be the reward of our loyalty to the party?

    “The Party has chosen not to punish the 39 APC members, including the elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker, but chose to direct, as it is customary and conventional, on how the other four (4) Principal Officers should be distributed. Alas! The opposition and the 39 members continue to hold the ruling party in contempt by disobeying the party

    “Whereas, the beneficiaries of the disobedience are citing Federal Character Principle as the main reason for their disobedience, His Excellency should note that

    “(a) During the 6th Assembly 2007 – 2011, the following officers were elected from the Northwest (I) the president and Commander-in-Chief (ii) Hon. Ismaila Kawu  (iii) Hon. Mutawalle. The two (ii) and (iii) occupied 2 out of the 4 principal officers positions of the Minority Party (iv) Hon Aminu Tambuwal was elected Deputy Chief Whip.

    “(b) Also during the 7th Assembly, the following officers in Government were elected from the Northwest

    “(I) The Vice President (II) The Speaker, Rt. Hon Aminu Tambuwal (III) Hon. Ismaila Kawu, Deputy Minority Leader (IV) Hon. Garba Datti, Deputy Minority Whip. In these instances there was never an issue of Federal Character.

    “It should be noted that the Federal Character principle as embedded in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is not justiciable and of no legal consequence. Its provision in S.14 of the Constitution is only applicable to appointments in federal ministries and agencies. The House of Representatives is not an agency of the Federal Government and the principal officers positions are elective and not by appointment. If the Federal Character is applicable to the National Assembly, then both the Senate President and the Speaker cannot come from the North; one of them should be advised to step down.”

    The two- page presentation added: “It is noteworthy that Mr. President and the governors had strongly put their weight behind the party and had severally admonished the House to abide by the party position. The 39 APC members in the House continued to collude with the PDP to flagrantly disobey Mr. President, the governors and the party with a view to bringing the party and government to ridicule before Nigerians.

    “The conduct of the 39 APC members colluding with the PDP is tantamount to affront, ultimately targeted at polarising our party so as to give room for many of them to decamp to the PDP.

    “It is, therefore, imperative for Mr. President to take a stand and save the integrity of the party by calling to order the 39 members, which include the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, to respect, honour and obey our Party Leaders and their directives.

    “In conclusion, Mr. President, we as loyal party members shall continue to abide by the party and our party leaders and their directives. We strongly appeal to you to direct the Speaker to return to our fold and be truly elected Speaker on APC platform. He should be directed to announce the other four party principal officers positions as directed by the party as it has always been the convention.

    “We sincerely appreciate Mr. President for the audience, trusting in his ability to successfully mediate so as to save our great party, the APC, from further embarrassment.”

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Gbajabiamila said it was “very successful” and that the caucus and the party will come out bigger and stronger.

    According to him, Buhari, who is a party man, is committed to party supremacy.

    On what Buhari’s response to the group was, he said: “We all know that the President is a party man. He believes in the party supremacy. He believes in the ideology of the party and he believes that the party will move forward. That is how much I can tell you. That is not new; we all know the President.”

    Asked why Dogara did not attend the meeting if it was a caucus meeting, Gbajabiamila said: “The Speaker probably had other engagement and there were other caucus members that were not here. We are a representative of the caucus.”

    He said that the meeting was not about himself or any individual, but the party.

    “It is not about me. We need to get that very straight. They voted with me, but the idea is about the party; they supported the party, the party position and the party line. It is not about any individual. Nobody came here as an independent candidate.”

    On the way forward, Gbajabiamila said: “The party’s will will be done.”

  • APC set for frank talks as Buhari, Saraki, Dogara, others meet today

    APC set for frank talks as Buhari, Saraki, Dogara, others meet today

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) vowed yesterday to emerge strong from its first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting after its post-election crisis.

    The crisis, which has split the party’s leaders, erupted after the June 9 election of principal officers at the National Assembly.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara emerged against the party’s wish.

    The party endorsed Senator Ahmed Lawan for Senate and Femi Gbajabiamila for Speaker.

    “We are set for the meeting which will address some issues. We are expecting the President, our governors and leaders in the National Assembly. The NEC will properly constitute the Board of Trustees (BOT) of APC because we want all our organs to function effectively.

    “We are in the process of reconciliation; we will definitely put our house in order and emerge stronger,” National Secretary Mai Buni said yesterday, adding:

    “Politics is sometimes like that. You know our party is the first story of a successful merger of major parties in the country; we were also the first opposition party to dislodge a sitting government; and this is the first time an opposition party is having majority in the National Assembly. You should expect some teething problems but we will reconcile and reunite all.”

    Buni said one of the key parts of the agenda is on “ensuring that everybody respects the party.”

    There was anxiety last night that the meeting could make or break the APC in view of the “volatile nature” of the agenda.

    The warring groups in the National Assembly engaged in marathon consultations and intensified the lobbying of NEC members.

    Ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, however, set the tone for the meeting by pleading with APC leaders to “shift ground and move to the centre”.

    He said the blame game targeted at individuals was an unnecessary diversion of energies at the expense of the urgency of the mission of the party.

    Those expected at the session are President Muhammadu Buhari, all APC governors, Senate President  Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, members of the National Working Committee and some principal officers. It will be the first meeting in which the Presidency will be present with Saraki and Dogara in attendance.

    On the agenda are the journey so far by the Buhari administration, the crisis in the National Assembly and the way out; the constitution of the party’s Board of Trustees; and how to enhance party supremacy in managing challenges.

    A source in the party said the session would be devoted to “frank talks” on the crisis in the National Assembly over the election of Saraki, Dogara and some principal officers.

    The source said National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun will make a detailed presentation on the crisis in the National Assembly, the extent of intervention by the party, mediation by President Buhari and the way out of the logjam.

    The source said: “We are set for a NEC session of frank talks because the crisis in the National Assembly has overshadowed our mission for the nation. We promised change and Nigerians are becoming weary with what is happening.

    “Our governors and leaders are really disturbed about the trend of things. Now, we have a golden opportunity to tell ourselves the home truths and resolve the impasse. We are hopeful that we will reconcile and reunite at the end of the day.”

  • Saraki, Dogara urged to cooperate with APC leadership

    Saraki, Dogara urged to cooperate with APC leadership

    The Network of Civil Society Organizations have called on the leadership of the National Assembly under Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President and Honourable Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives to cooperate with the leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and respect the supremacy of the party.

    In a statement issued in Abuja by Mr. Lawal Bamidele, the National Publicity Secretary of the CSO, the group passed a vote of confidence on Chief. John Oyegun, Chairman of the APC amidst calls for his resignation as the party National Chairman.

    “We call on the entire party leadership to give the National Working Committee (NWC) members of the party the needed support and synergy which they so much needed for greater performance in formulating better administrative initiatives.

    “We adjure the National Assembly under the leadership of His Excellency Sen. Bukola Saraki for the Senate and Hon. Yakubu Dogara for the House of Representatives to corporate with the Party leadership and respect the supremacy of the party above personal interest.

    “It is rather unfortunate and distractive that certain individuals are calling for the resignation of the National Chairman at this time when he has barely led the party to accomplish unprecedented fit of defeating a seating President – a fit which rather demands commendation as against condemnation.

    “APC as a party that preaches change, should not be seen to be re-enacting the usual People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s syndrome of use and dump,” he said.