The House of Representatives returned yesterday from a long recess to a rowdy session.
A letter by the Baraje’s faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) requesting to visit the House exploded like a time bomb on the floor of the House.
The reading of the New PDP’s letter which was signed by its secretary Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, disrupted proceedings end and sparked a shouting match that halted proceedings for almost 30 minutes.
Members were screaming party slogans and the chamber resonated with screams of “no, yes, no, yes”. They gathered in groups, discussing in loud voices and making passionate gesticulations.
The Speaker’s chair was surrounded by scores of members suggesting ways out of the row. Many were speaking at the same time. The Sergeants- at- arms formed a wall of protection around the mace.
Yesterday’s session mirrored the polarity between members of the “old” and the “new” PDP.
Normalcy returned to the floor when Speaker Aminu Tambuwal revealed that a letter requesting a scheduled visit to meet with the leadership of the House and the PDP Caucus, written by PDP Chairman Bamanga Tukur, was also received but withdrawn early yesterday morning.
“There was a communication from our leader, Bamanga Tukur, to address the PDP caucus, but he withdrew his letter this morning and that was why I couldn’t read it,” Tambuwal said.
If Tukur had not withdrawn the letter, both factions would have been meeting with the lawmakers about the same time.
As the uproar subsided, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), moved a motion titled “The recent development in the country and the need to remain focused” under Point of Order
According to him, members of the constituencies watching the proceedings might misconstrue it to mean there was division in the House.
“We are united. People watching what happened on the floor will misinterpret it to mean that we are divided,” he said.
The lawmaker said various publications in recent times were meant to cause ill feelings among members.
He moved that a vote of confidence be passed “on the Speaker and the members of the leadership as presently constituted”, adding that this would, to a large extent, show that the members of the House are united and have faith in the leadership.
The motion passed with overwhelming support.
Femi Gbajabiamila, speaking under Order of Privilege informed the House of the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the recess.
“I do this for the sake of formality and in recognition of the fact that scores of our members walked into the chamber and there was no register with APC,” Gbajabiamila said. He urged the Speaker to directs the Clerk to register the APC.
There were shouts of “APC!” as all members of the party stood and applauded.
The Speaker directed the Clerk to “do the needful and within the confines of the law”.
Tambuwal, in his resumption speech, titled: “We must remain focused”, said there was more to be done to bring the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
“Most of our people still can’t afford to live decently. They still can’t afford quality education for their children or good healthcare for their families. They still don’t have those basic needs of life – from clean water to adequate security and regular power supply – that other nations take for granted. This means there remains a whole lot more to be done.
“Recently, the polity has witnessed sustained heat generated by both inter-party and intra-party squabbles. This is not all together unexpected, given the approach of 2015. What is worrisome, however, is that these squabbles have further exposed the weaknesses of internal party democratic culture and inter-party intolerance. These are viruses that we must resolve to dispense with in order to sanitise the political space.
“I wish to caution that we exercise the highest restraint to the obvious distractions that the approaching 2015 is bound to bring so that we do not lose our focus in the diligent pursuit of our mandate. The proper timing for 2015 will surely come and at that time, we shall do the needful.”
While thanking members for their efforts in the Constitution Amendment, Tambuwal said there were still areas to attend to.
“We also hope to amend the Electoral Act again to see how we can ensure that no one takes unfair advantage of the existing loopholes to rig elections. The fact is that until we can ensure that each vote counts in this country, the people will always be taken for granted by their leaders. We, therefore, want to produce a solid Electoral Act, comparable to any in the world and able to stand the test of time.
“Budget implementation still remains a sore point of governance. The level of implementation of the 2013 capital appropriation is way below expectation, given the early submission by the Executive and equally early passage by the Legislature. We have consistently advised that the procurement process be employed in a value added manner rather than the slavish adherence to and unproductive worship of procedures. It would appear that not much progress has been made in that regard.
“So far, by the information and statistics at our disposal, there would appear to be no justification for this state of affairs. However, in order to be comprehensively guided, all the Committees of the House will proceed on one week of oversight to Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the end of which they shall submit their reports to the Committees on Legislative Budget and Research and that of Legislative Compliance. The two Committees will collate same and submit a joint report to plenary for consideration. This report will guide the House in the consideration of the 2014 budget proposals.
“In an Interim Report to Leadership, the Ad hoc Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has reported that public hearings on the bill have been successfully conducted in the six geo political zones and Abuja. The importance of this bill to the economy cannot be overemphasized, accordingly the committee is hereby directed to expedite work and submit its report to the House soonest”
