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Tag: Gbajabiamila

  • Gbajabiamila is a great leader, says Ambode

    Gbajabiamila is a great leader, says Ambode

    •Constituency organises welcome/victory party

    The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has described the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, as a great leader with outstanding planning skills with strong and decisive approach to issues.

    Urging Gbajabiamila to continue to champion participatory and constitutional democracy in the House, Ambode said, “you are a man of integrity and you have a clear, exciting idea of where you are going and what you are trying to accomplish.”

    Ambode spoke through his representative, the permanent secretary, office of Civic Engagement, Mrs. Adebunmi Adekanye, at the ‘heroic welcome and victory party’ organised in honour of Gbajabiamila  by his Surulere Federal  Constituency members at Teslim Balogun Stadium yesterday.

    He lauded Gbajabiamila for focusing on the strength of the party and its supremacy, saying “I must thank you immensely for coming out to tell us that you were willing to sacrifice your position for the sake of peace and unity in the House.

    “I admonish you to continue championing participatory and constitutional democracy in the House of Representatives and to ensure that good governance is enshrined in the quality of resolutions and bills passed.

    “I also implore you to ensure cordial and harmonious executive/legislative relationship in the House. And ensure you continue your role as the link between Lagos State Government and House of Representatives”, he said.

    Describing Gbajabiamila as a great leader with, strong and decisive approach to issues but also humble, Ambode said, “You have the self-confidence and self awareness to recognise the value of others without feeling threatened. Your clear vision turns you into a special type of person by changing you from a transactional manager into a transformational leader.”

     

     

     

     

  • Reps Minority Whip to Buhari: clarify Gbajabiamila’s emergence

    Reps Minority Whip to Buhari: clarify Gbajabiamila’s emergence

    House of Representatives Minority Whip Yakubu Barde has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to clarify the emergence of Femi Gbajabiamila as Majority Leader.

    In a statement yesterday, titled: “Between Buhari and Gbajabiamila: who is lying?” Barde urged President Buhari to respond to reports that he intervened in installing Gbajabiamila.

    The statements reads: “Today (yesterday), we woke up to read stories in most dailies attributed to House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, in which he claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari did intervene in making him the House Leader.

    “Gbajabiamila addressed reporters during an interactive session at the National Assembly in Abuja on Friday, where he said President Buhari and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) declined his offer to withdraw from the race.”

    Barde quoted Gbajabiamila as saying: “But on principle, the President did not accept it; my party did not accept it, and I thank God for the kind of confidence they have in me to deliver the goods for the party. Who am I to say no? It was on principle that we stayed on course.”

    The Minority Whip said: “To say the least, we are shocked by the revelation from Gbajabiamila that indeed President Buhari meddled in the affairs of the House of Representatives, contrary to his earlier stance.

    “Nigerians may recall that President Buhari told the world that he would not interfere in the emergence of leaders of the House.

    “President Buhari said he was ready to work with anyone who emerged and reiterated this stance in his famous inaugural address: ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.’

    “However, with the latest revelations by Gbajabiamila, we are not sure who is telling the truth between the two men.

    “It is either one of them lied to Nigerians or both men jointly and separately lied.

    “If, as Gbajabiamila claimed, President Buhari did influence his emergence as House Leader, it will rather be unfortunate…’’

  • ‘I have never been against Gbajabiamila’s ambition’

    ‘I have never been against Gbajabiamila’s ambition’

    There were reports that the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Lasun Yussuf, was against the emergence of Femi Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. In this report, Dele Anofi in Abuja quoted some associates who previously worked with Yussuf as saying it was the Deputy Speaker’s introvert nature that was exploited to give vent to that insinuation

    The misconception about the personality of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Sulaimon Olasunkanmi Yussuf, could be said to be responsible for the erroneous impression that he, as the Deputy Speaker, was against the emergence of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader. The man Lasun is an epitome of calmness even as he is reserved. His close associates are saying that this aspect of his character was exploited in this case by those bent on creating a wedge between the two.

    According to one of his associates, Bimbo Daramola, a former House member, “One fact that must be established is that there was no basis for Lasun’s antagonism of Gbajabiamila for the fact that as Deputy Speaker, his position was fait accompli since June 9th. He was elected on that day with the Speaker and there was no controversy over the process that puts them up. Equally instructive is the fact that there is no way the emergence of Gbajabiamila can undermine the position of the Deputy Speaker as both offices have clearly defined responsibilities. In other words, there is no basis for antagonism from either sides. Rather, Lasun can only benefit from the experience and depth of Gbajabiamila while not ruling out the fact, since no one is an island of knowledge, Gbajabiamila too can learn from Lasun in the discharge of his legislative responsibilities.”

    Another associate, a serving member of the House said the manipulation of the reserved disposition of the Deputy Speaker contributed hugely to the laid back perception of Lasun by those who are not close to him. This, on its own makes it easy for him to be underrated as an astute politician but to those who know him; he has never been a pushover. It must count for something for the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara to have stuck to him as his Deputy.

    “The drafters of our constitution were not unmindful of the fact that whoever is going to be the Deputy Speaker must be able to earn his worth, otherwise they would have said when the Speaker emerges, let there be no Deputy but they said there must be an election for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. Then, there were other conditions which Lasun met before he was voted as Deputy Speaker. More importantly, for 203 of his colleagues to have voted for him as Deputy Speaker meant that they believed he has something worthwhile to offer to the legislature, as an institution and Nigeria’s democracy. In view of that, as some people would want Nigerians to believe, one wonders how Lasun would have been threatened by Gbajabiamila becoming the House Leader. Furthermore, by job description, insinuations that Lasun was against Gbajabiamila can still not hold waters because the responsibilities of the two offices were clearly defined. While the House Leader liaises between the President and the House, bring correspondences and so on, the Deputy Speaker’s scope is wider, deeper and more extensive. He is an alternate Speaker, the rules say so. In situations when the Speaker is not available, the Deputy Speaker presides. Like we saw on the day the Principal officers emerged; if you recall, Speaker Dogara left the plenary to attend to another important state matter, Lasun presided until the Speaker came back to announce the names of the principal officers. So, how could Gbajabiamila have been a threat to Lasun? In other words, there’s no competition because there is no basis for it. He can learn from the experience and depth of Gbajabiamila and vice versa.

    “At this point in time, people should not stoke up embers of discord between the two, it is not necessary. The introvert nature of the Deputy Speaker should not be manipulated and taken for granted by mischief makers to disrupt harmonious flow of legislative work in this Assembly. His being calm does not compromise the fact that he is intelligent; this is a second degree holder in Mechanical Engineering. He didn’t get his Masters 10 year ago, but about 24 years ago,” he said.

    But people are quick to point out that Lasun was little known. We learnt however that the Deputy Speaker belonged to about six standing committees of the House, including Appropriation. He was a member a Selection Committee, constituted immediately the 7th House was inaugurated.

    “As a member of Selection Committee in the 7th House, to put people together, to allocate committees to 350 members and to get it right, that’s a lot or work. And for the fact that neither controversies nor bad feelings followed the selection says a lot about those that put that together. It is instructive to note that it was when the team of Lasun and not Tambuwal, not Ihedioha, not any of the former principal officers, got it right at the level of Selection Committee and turn it over that the leadership could approve what every lawmaker later identified with without rancour. That is serious work that only analytical minds can accomplish. Another member said Lasun is an assertive legislator, who is very difficult to sway once he makes up his mind on an issue. According to him, he takes his time to observe thoroughly before making his conclusion. “Once his mind is made up, it becomes difficult to fault his argument because he will present a superior argument, often times backed with facts and figures. We find ourselves going with his suggestions most of the time during our committee activities. He is well known and feared by most MDAs during oversight duties because his knowledge of the workings of the MDAs was legendary. Once he is in the team, it is not difficult to see how jittery any organisation we are visiting gets because they know that there won’t be room for mediocre session”.

    Apart from carrying out his legislative duties with diligence, Lasun is a man who has no inhibition about discussing his background; he doesn’t hide the fact that he comes from a rustic village of Ilobu. According to Ismail Mustapha, President of the Abuja Chapter of Ilobu Development Association, Lasun endeared himself to the people of Ilobu and Osun State with his humility.

    “You see the pride oozing out of him when he talks about his father, who is a carpenter at every given opportunity. He is never shy of his background. That is something that should count for something,” he said. Lasun’s assertiveness was on display when the group paid him a courtesy call a week ago, where his closeness to the grassroots became apparent.  At the meeting, he showed a glimpse of how assertive and independent-minded he was, he also stressed the need to reward hard work, as a way of encouraging others to follow suit. He made it known that his home town Ilobu paid its dues towards the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) and should be rightly rewarded.

    At the meeting, he explained that justice should always prevail in all human endeavors, politics apart. He wondered how his resignation as Deputy Speaker would serve any useful purpose, as insinuated in some quarters.

    His stance on justice eventually came to pass with the peaceful resolution of the principal officers’ saga. At the meeting, Lasun noted that having contributed immensely to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at both local and national levels, it would amount to an injustice to ask an Ilobu man to vacate the seat. He told the gathering that “It is important to state that Ilobu has been a big supporter of our party even beyond Osun. After Osogbo, Ilobu is the only town whose progressive elections have never been rigged. When we had the 2015 elections, every Nigerian knew at that time that it was the election in Osun that will probably dictate whether APC will be in existence or would be strong enough to dislodge PDP. If you recall, everybody moved to Osogbo either as observers or participants. It was reported that about 76,000 security agents were deployed to Osun for that particular election. Statistically, Ilobu as a town was sixth in quality of votes to the emergence of Governor Aregbesola with a staggering difference of 7,000 votes out of 100,000 that APC got over PDP in that election. So, if an Ilobu man is made the Deputy Speaker today, we deserve it because we contributed our quota. So anyone talking about Lasun Yussuf to resign only want to cheat Ilobu people that have toiled day and night to make what APC is today. When I look at that angle alone I laugh, and I want to say this nature itself has a way of regulating things; we cannot want to benefit from where we have not sowed”.

    So, he vowed to do everything within his capacity to assist his town’s socio-economic development. He assured the group that, if it is going to be the only thing he could do, with the assistance and support of his colleagues in the House, a dilapidated bridge built in 1954, liking the town with other parts of the South-West would be rehabilitated. He said it was painful and frustrating that successive governments have ignored the bridge that now takes over two hours instead of minutes for motorists to access due to unending traffic hold ups.

    A devout Muslim, Lasun was born on October 4th 1960. Though, an alumnus of University of Ibadan, he started his education from home at the Local Authority Primary School Ilobu. He has Bachelor and Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering. This background was responsible for his being made the chairman of Osun State Capital Territory Development Authority and those conversant with Osogbo would know that a lot must have been accomplished by those saddled with the responsibility of turning the capital around. Lasun was one of them.

    As stated by one of his Chief of Staff, Hon Bimbo Daramola, who was a former legislator and a contemporary of Lasun in the 7th Assembly, the Deputy Speaker is a man that should be given the opportunity to showcase his potentials. According to him, Lasun is roaring to go, to correct the misgivings about him in the last House.

  • I owe my triumph to Buhari, party leaders, says Gbajabiamila

    I owe my triumph to Buhari, party leaders, says Gbajabiamila

    House of Representatives Majority Leader,  Femi Gbajabiamila,  yesterday reviewed the 49-day leadership crisis in the Green Chamber of the National Assembly and said he  almost called it quits.

    Gbajabiamila, who was named to the position only last Tuesday  following high level politicking, said the intervention of  President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress hierarchy  persuaded him to remain in the battle to the end.

    He told reporters that  Buhari and the APC leadership prevailed on him to  continue with his aspiration to be part of principal officers  of  the 8th House of Representatives.

    Gbajabiamila,  who was the party’s official candidate for the Speakership, was surprisingly defeated by  Mr. Yakubu Dogara  in the  June 9 election on the floor of the House.

    He subsequently   entered  the race for the position of  House Leader only for  Speaker Dogara and his loyalists to oppose him on the grounds that the Southwest  could not have  the positions of Deputy Speaker andHouse Leader.

    The matter was  resolved on Tuesday.

    Gbajabiamila, speaking at a media parley yesterday, said  he was pained that the stalemate  was manipulated to centre around his person.

    His words: “A lot of people do not  know this: a   long time ago, I saw the President, I saw my party; I explained to them that this thing has been framed to be about me.

    “So I said I wanted to withdraw for the sake of the House and the country. I told them I would leave this thing in a heartbeat without even thinking about it and I would go and sit on the floor of the House, without even accepting anything, not even chairmanship.

     On why he continued with the struggle despite his resolve to withdraw from  the race, Gbajabiamila said the issue got beyond him at that point.

    He said President  Buhari and the All Progressives Congress  (APC) rejected  his offer to withdraw from the race.

    “On principle, the President did not accept it; my party did not accept it and I thank God for the kind of confidence they have in me to be able to deliver the goods for the party. Who am I to say no? It was on principle that we stayed the course,” he said.

    He  said he was all for  full disclosure of lawmakers’ remunerations.

    Such disclosure, according to him, would enable  the public to know  what  each   lawmaker earns and will also go a long way in deepening  transparency and accountability in government.

    “For instance, if you  say for transportation, this is how much a lawmaker gets, the public can determine whether that X amount is too much for transportation or not.

    “But to roll everything up in a ball park is not helping at all. There are a lot of conflicting figures, you leave yourself vulnerable to speculation as a legislator.

     “I am for the National Assembly to open up its book to the public”.

  • No more faction in the House, say Dogara, Gbajabiamila

    No more faction in the House, say Dogara, Gbajabiamila

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara has said the Eighth House is set to work for Nigerians.

    He said lawmakers in the lower chamber knew that Nigerians were tired of the prolonged face – off over leadership in the House.

    Dogara spoke yesterday at the conclusion of a meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus on Wednesday night. The meeting ended about 12.15am yesterday.

    He said: “There are no more factions in the House. What we have today is a group of lawmakers loyal to the House leadership and our great party.

    “It is only in unity that we can positively contribute to the change we all worked for and move Nigeria forward towards our desired dream of a greater nation”.

    He also said the Southeast geo-political zone, which was not represented in the new leadership because it has first-time lawmakers would be taken care of.

    “We are working on that to see how the zone will be compensated,” he added.

    Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the division in the House was over.

    He assured that those perceived to have lost out, especially the Southeast, would be compensated.

    “There are no longer factions in the House; whatever happened earlier is now behind us and we are ready to serve Nigerians to the best of our ability. It is not right to play the ethnicity or regional card for now but they will be compensated.”

    Abiodun Faleke (Lagos) said:  “We are no longer fighting as you can see; we are now ready to work with other legislators and move our country forward.”

    Abdulmunin Jibrin (Kano) said: “This meeting has healed all wounds. There is nobody here that is nursing any anger or ill-feelings any longer.”

  • Gbajabiamila is House Leader

    Gbajabiamila is House Leader

    •Dogara bows to Buhari, APC

    Party supremacy advocates yesterday carried the day, with Femi Gbajabiamila becoming the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

    The sharing of offices in the House had be contentious. It all ended peacefully as Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced Gbajabiamila the Majority Leader – in deference to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress(APC).

    Dogara, by accepting the party’s list, opted for peace than a prolonged crisis in the House.

    But, instead of riding his colleagues roughshod, Dogara allowed the caucuses of the APC to have input in the choice of principal officers.

    The horse-trading ran late into the wee hours of yesterday but all the factions accepted to bury the hatchets in the interest of the party’s success.

    Six factors accounted for the resolution of the crisis in the House, The Nation learnt.

    A member of the House listed the factors as follows:

    • the Buhari 20-minute intervention on Monday night;
    • follow-up intervention by the party leadership after the session with Buhari;
    • Dogara’s design of a consensus formula;
    • the need to compensate Gbajabiamila for his role as opposition leader in the House for eight years and in  making APC a reality;
    • Reps were crisis-weary; and
    • the need to save the nation’s democracy because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was trying to capitalise on the crisis to derail Buhari’s administration.

    The source said: “Dogara and APC members were moved by Buhari’s 20-minute appeal. We saw a President who was wearied that we were not united and Dogara seized the moment. He abandoned all prejudices to put the nation and the survival of APC first.

    “I think Dogara has tremendous respect for Buhari and he decided to be his own man to defer to the President and APC. He kept on asking, without the party, would I have been here? What is so difficult that we cannot resolve?

    “That meeting at the Presidential Villa changed the mood of the warring factions in the House.”

    It was also gathered that Dogara was moved by the APC Chairman John Odidie-Oyegun and APC Follow-up Committee. He could not fathom why the elderly ones were begging him, it was learnt.

    According to sources, shortly after the session between Buhari and APC members in the House on Monday, the party raised a four-man ad hoc committee to follow up on the President’s mandate –  that the party’s stand must prevail.

    Members of the committee are Odigie-Oyegun, the National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the National Vice-Chairman, Northeast, Mr. B.B. Lawal.

    A source in the committee said: “We had a meeting with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker Lasun Yusuf. We also had a separate session with Femi Gbajabiamila.

    “The atmosphere was somber and the two groups agreed to harmonise their positions. They said we should allow the zonal caucuses to elect their leaders.

    “They all respected the meeting we had with the President on party supremacy. They said for Buhari to intervene, the crisis was getting out of hand.”

    The party source added: “There was intense horse-trading till the wee hours of Tuesday morning when the factions in the House agreed to move forward.

    “There were signs too that members of APC in the House were tired of the crisis. They saw the signs that the PDP was already capitalising on the gridlock to cripple the administration of Buhari.

    “They noticed that at the rate the crisis was going, it could derail the nation’s democracy. So, wise counsel prevailed and members chose to sheathe their swords.”

    The National Secretary of APC told our correspondent that the APC committee brokered truce among its members in the House. “It is a welcome development. We are impressed that they respected the party and affirmed the supremacy of the party,” he said, adding:

    “This has confirmed that we are one family. It is a clear manifestation that we can unite for the sake of the nation.

    “The case of the Senate will be addressed; it would soon be sorted out. We are equally expecting them to respect the position of the party as well.”

    The Chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Information, Mallam Sanni Zorro, who spoke last night with our correspondent, said: “It was the triumph of democracy, the House is the winner. The House has demonstrated political maturity because politics is about give-and-take.

    “President Buhari is not only a leader but a game changer. Since 1999, past Presidents had always installed the leaders of the National Assembly but President Buhari decided not to interfere.

    “There was pressure on him to interfere but he refused. It was only when the crisis got to a critical stage that he intervened. Yet, he did not impose his will. The party also did not use force.”

    Zorro praised the Speaker for championing peace in the House.

    He added: “To resolve the crisis, Dogara came up with a final consensus formula which took into consideration the interest of critical stakeholders including the nation, the presidency, regional politics, zoning and all those things that divided members.

    “It is a win-win situation. There was no winner, no loser. With the crisis amicably resolved, the House is now open for business, legislative activities and engagement with public, private and non-governmental actors.”

     

  • 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”.

     

  • House leadership crisis Gbajabiamila splits Dogara’s camp

    House leadership crisis Gbajabiamila splits Dogara’s camp

    •Unresolved leadership crisis forces NASS to shift resumption date

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara may be losing his plot to allocate four principal offices in the House to geo political zones other than those prescribed by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Dogara in a July 16 letter to the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, proposed that in accordance with the federal character formula enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the position of House leader should go to the Northwest; Deputy House Leader to the North Central; Chief Whip to the South East; and Deputy Chief Whip to the South South.

    This is against the party’s proposal of Femi Gbajabiamila from the Southwest as House leader; Alhassan Ado Doguwa from the Northwest as Deputy House leader; M.T.Monguno from the Northeast as Chief Whip; and Pally Iriase from the South South as Deputy Chief Whip.

    Dogara’s position is seen as a ploy to stop his rival for the Speakership, Gbajabiamila, from becoming House leader.

    Sources in the Speaker’s camp told The Nation yesterday that some of his supporters are beginning to express their frustration at what they see as his winner takes all stance.

    One of the Speaker’s backers from Sokoto State said his camp is now split between those who believe that the party should be allowed to have its way on the filling of the four positions and those who want Dogara and his group to have everything for themselves.

    “As far as I am aware, the issue of the vacant principal offices is yet to be resolved. As we speak, the groups led by Speaker Dogara and his rival, Femi Gbajabiamila, are yet to agree on the would-be occupants of the offices. I can also tell you that those of us in Dogara’s camp are divided over the matter too, especially over the Speaker’s last letter to the APC chairman,” the source said last night.

    He added: “While there are those who believe the Speaker should not agree with the party on how best to resolve this matter, some of us are of the opinion that it is best for us to allow for party supremacy at this point. There is no need for further opposition to the party’s directives on this matter especially after Mr. President intervened on more than one occasion. We feel we must be magnanimous in victory.”

    The House was originally scheduled to resume on Tuesday, July 21 but this has now been shifted by one week, same as the Senate which is also contending with its own leadership problem.

    Sources said the crisis is at the root of the shift in resumption date by the two chambers.

    The Nation learnt that the disagreement among pro-Dogara lawmakers started before his letter to the APC National Chairman.

    Sources said the letter has even aggravated the disagreement in the Speaker’s camp with some describing it as an affront on the party leadership.

    “Before the letter was written, we met to discuss the various options available to resolve the crisis and I can tell you that a good number of us are in support of the party’s position.

    “But it appears some people are scared of something. The opposition is more against Gbajabiamila than against the party. In spite of pleas that we should no longer rock the boat, the letter was written to the disappointment of some of us. This has led to a more complicated situation because there are further cracks within the House.”

    A Rep from Lagos State and supporter of Gbajabiamila said:”We are aware that the current leadership of the House itself is divided over how best to resolve the crisis. We also leant that given the sharp difference in opinion, it is likely that resumption may be shifted to avoid another rancorous plenary. But whatever happens, we are resolute that party supremacy should not be sacrificed for any political gain by all the camps involved in this matter.”

    But House Ad-hoc Committee Chairman on Media and Public Affairs, Mohammed Sani Zorro, differed on the reason for the postponement of the resumption date.

    His words: “I don’t think the House is postponing resumption because of its inability to reconcile the matter at hand. The House works with a calendar. The Senate has shifted its resumption to July 28; you know sometimes they come out with a common calendar; at times, one chamber resumes a few days before the other. I assure you that if there is any postponement, it cannot be as a result of the disagreement.”

    Multiple sources told The Nation in Abuja that “various caucuses at the National Assembly have been meeting with the aim of finding ways and means to put the leadership crisis behind us when we resume.”

    “We don’t want to come back a divided house,” one of the sources said.

    Another source said: “We have it on good authority that the Governor Abubakar Bagudu committee set-up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership to resolve the National Assembly crisis has submitted its report to the party.

    “The leadership of the National Assembly thought it necessary to give the party leadership some time to consider the report and state its position on the matter.”

    He said that the National Assembly leadership is working to ensure that Senators and members of the House of Representatives return as a united parliament in their chambers.

    “Enough of bickering, it is better to give the party leadership a little more time to sort out the remaining differences. The Bagudu led peace committee has submitted its report to the party.

    “The party should be allowed to consider the report and come up with its position. We are all poised for peace. If one more week will give us the peace we desire, it would not have been a wasted effort.

    “I can also tell you that (Senate President) Saraki is reaching out to stakeholders with the aim of arriving at agreeable resolution of all issues at stake.”

    The National Assembly plans to resume next week by which time President Muhammadu Buhari would have returned home from the US.

    The National Assembly has been embroiled in crisis since the June 9th election of the Senate President, Deputy Senate president as well as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Speaker.

     

  • Buhari, Gbajabiamila discuss party supremacy

    Buhari, Gbajabiamila discuss party supremacy

    President Muhammadu Buhari was last night meeting with a 30-man delegation of the 174 All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the House of Representatives backing  Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

    Gbajabiamila, who was the choice of the (APC) for the post of Speaker lost to Hon.  Yakubu Dogara.

    Dogara,  who defied the party’s directive to contest for the seat, also declined to announce Gbajabiamila as House Leader contrary to the party’s directive.

    The meeting started when Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived at the First Lady’s Conference Room venue around 9.45 p.m.

    Gbajabiamila told reporters after the meeting at about 11pm that they discussed party supremacy.

  • Buhari, Osinbajo meet with Gbajabiamila’s reps group

    Buhari, Osinbajo meet with Gbajabiamila’s reps group

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday night met behind closed-doors with 30-man delegation of the 174 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the House of Representatives loyal to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

    Gbajabiamila who was the choice of the (APC) for the post of the Speaker of the House of Representatives lost the election for the seat to Yakubu Dogara, who defied the party’s directive to contest for the seat.

    Following the loss, APC later wanted Gbajabiamila and other loyal APC members to emerge as principal officers of the House of Representatives.

    But Dogara and his group were not disposed to the position of the party.

    The meeting started when Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived the First Lady Conference Room venue around 9.45 p.m.

    Although details of discussions at the meeting is unknown, it is believed that the meeting is to seek Buhari’s assistance towards ensuring party’s supremacy in filling the other four positions.