The Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari took the right decision on behalf of Nigerians by signing a $6bn investment package with China during his visit to the Asian country.
Femi Gbajabiamila
He stated that Buhari got the mandate from the Nigerian people, having “overwhelmingly” elected him to govern the country.
The All Progressives Congress lawmaker from Lagos State, made the observation in a letter he addressed to the Chinese President, Xi Jingping.
The letter, which was dated April 18, was a response to an earlier letter the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, wrote Jingping, in which he condemned Buhari’s trip to China and his alleged bid for a $2bn loan from the Chinese government.
Gbajabiamila advised the Chinese President to ignore Fayose, whom he said had no authority to speak on behalf of Nigeria, a country with a federal structure.
He also argued that contrary to Fayose’s position that Buhari did not brief the National Assembly before engaging in such international deals on behalf of Nigeria, the President actually notified the legislature in the 2016-2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework that he would resort to borrowing to fund Nigeria’s three-budgeting plan.
Part of the letter to Jingping read, “Mr. President, perhaps our governor is not fully seized on the way budgeting works at the federal level. The Federal Government of Nigeria has a three-year budget rolling plan captured under a Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The MTEF 2016-2018 has a borrowing component in which the legislature approved for the President to incur both domestic and foreign loans for the purposes of infrastructural development and deficit financing.
“This MTEF was passed unanimously, by the National Assembly including the six House members and three senators from Ekiti, the governor’s state.
“I am therefore dismayed as are many members of the National Assembly that the governor would claim that the loan sought from your government did not have parliamentary imprimatur.
“It is also a fallacy that the country’s debt is being financed with 25 per cent of the Federal Government’s annual budget as there is something in economic and legislative borrowing parlance called nominal debt service where a portion of borrowed monies in this case about N1.3tn stays within the country’s financial system. Such are the intricacies of national debts, aids and loans.”
The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, has urged Nigerians not to blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the problems in the 2016 budget.
Gbajabiamila, who said this while receiving leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in his office in Abuja at the weekend, said civil servants should be held liable for the crises.
He said: “I’m going to absolve the President, but I’m not going to absolve the people that put it in. Why I absolved the President, I will tell you.
“The job was done by civil servants, it has always been done by them (civil servants).
“The President does not sit in a ministry, he doesn’t know what’s going on there or what they need or do not need.
“The argument will be that the buck stops at his desk and he must take responsibility, I agree with that. But the point is that he delegated responsibilities. Under the constitution he has the right to delegate his work to ministers. And he delegated the issue of budget and planning to the minister of Budget and Planning.”
ABUJA — The agitation by the nation’s federal lawmakers for supremacy and juicy committee positions boiled over, yesterday, when two members of the House of Representatives exchanged blows minutes before the day’s plenary session.
Femi Gbajabiamila
The exchange of blows caused the legislators to defer sitting and resort to caucuses during which a resolution was taken by the mainstream of the House to bring sanctions on House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila and his 23 loyalists who boycotted Monday’s inauguration of the House Committees.
That decision was, however, tempered following pleas at a closed door session between Gbajabiamila and some principal officers of the House in the speaker’s office.
Also yesterday in the Senate, muttering over the sharing of committee positions again reopened the fault lines as supporters of the Senate Presidency bid of Senator Ahmad Lawan accused Senate President Bukola Saraki of surrendering the chambers to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The melee in the House was upon the bad blood that followed the boycott of the inauguration of the 96 standing committees by House Leader, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, and his close loyalists.
Exchange of blows
It was gathered that trouble started when the newly inaugurated Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Rep Herman Hembe, representing APC, Konshisha/Vandekiya, Benue State, a close loyalist of the speaker, engaged Rep. Magaji Aliyu, APC, Birnin-Kudu/Buji, Jigawa State, a supporter of Gbajabiamila, over the sharing of the committees.
A slap was said to have followed when one of the two men could no longer control his emotion and the situation was said to have been quickly brought under control by the intervention of the Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun.
Tempers also overflowed on account of alleged moves by allies of Speaker Yakubu Dogara and those of Gbajabiamila to effect sanctions upon the other.
At the closed door session of the APC caucus, it was gathered that members resolved to remove Gbajabiamila as House Leader and refer his 23 loyalists who boycotted the Monday inauguration of the committees to the Privileges Committee of the House.
That move was, however, rescinded after a peace meeting between Gbajabiamila and the speaker attended by some principal officers of the House.
Yakubu Dogara
Sources privy to the development said Gbajabiamila had entered the speaker’s office and requested for a one-on-one meeting with the speaker but the other principal officers present were said to have refused and insisted on partaking in the meeting.
Among the principal officers present at the meeting were Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lashun; Minority Leader, Leo Ogor and Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa.
At the end of the interaction, the speaker was said to have promised to prevail on his supporters not to apply the sanctions as canvassed by the mainstream of the House against Gbajabiamila and his loyalists.
Gbajabiamila in an SMS response to Vanguard on the development said last night:“The Speaker and I, both know we will both look bad and no one will be the winner if there is ever another fight on the floor. The numbers are simply not there to remove any principal officer.”
It was a meeting
for APC family
Doguwa who briefed newsmen on the outcome of the APC caucus meeting said yesterday: “This was a meeting for the APC family, a meeting we intended to address ourselves that enough is enough of the misunderstanding among the APC family.
“I want to tell you precisely that by what we did yesterday, the flight of the 8th House of Representatives has taken off, it has not only taken off, it has taken off very successfully and it is a flight that is a four-year bound air flight, with Dogara as the pilot.
“I want to tell that we have maintained the status quo for now and Femi (Gbajabiamila) is our leader in the House of Representatives and even the speculations made earlier on that there is a move to remove Femi as our leader is unfounded and it is not from the leadership of the House or the APC.
“I also want to tell you that this morning I had a very close consultations with the leaders of the party, specifically Senator Lawali Shuaibu, who is the deputy leader of the APC in Nigeria and we have told them that there is no cause for alarm in the House of Representatives and we are moving as one.
“There is no two way about unity, this party was founded on the basis of unity and the House of Representatives as it is today is very much poised and ready to work with Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, to deliver the change mantra we have promised Nigerians.”
Gbajabiamila camp denies plot to remove Dogara
Associates of Gbajabiamila were also quick to denounce alleged plots against Speaker Dogara, particularly an alleged meeting in Atlanta, United States of America.
“No such meeting was held in the US. Rather, the leader (Gbajabiamila) visited Brazil where he met his family. I repeat there is no plan to remove Dogara by Gbajabiamila men,” an associate of Dogara said yesterday.
“It was a concoction of Dogara’s men to get juicy committees. They have built a garrison around Dogara that only those close to him can advise him. In short, they have caged him.
However, a member of the House, Rep Mustapha Bala Dawaki, has denounced agitations for committee positions, saying that committee chairmanship is a privilege and not the right of any lawmaker.
He said “the primary responsibility of any lawmaker here in the 8th Assembly is to adequately represent his constituency not committee chairmanship.”
Dawaki, who represents Dawakin Kudu/Warawa, APC, Kano, described the move as in bad taste “as no lawmaker was elected by his people to come here to fight for committee chairmanship or the so-called elusive juicy committees.”
Saraki asked to apologise to Nigerians
Meanwhile, anger among loyalists of Senator Lawan in the Senate over the composition of the committees also boiled over at a press conference in the Senate building, yesterday.
Speaking under the aegis of Senate Unity Forum, spokesman of the group, Senator Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara Central, however, shied away from saying any member of his group would resign from the committee positions assigned to him.
Affirming that tyranny had taken over the Senate, he urged Senate President Saraki to apologise to Nigerians for “abuse of the Constitution” and for increasing number of committees beyond the statutory provisions.
Trouble started shortly after Votes and Proceedings of the last Wednesday’s sitting was approved by the Senate. Senator Marafa, who cited a number of Constitutional Orders and the Senate Standing Order submitted that the constitution of the committees should be reversed as they failed to meet the benchmark.
According to Senator Marafa, the Senate Selection Committee chaired by the Senate President, was not duly constituted, in accordance with provisions of the Standing Order, saying as such, the committees they put together were null and void.
He also asserted that failure of the Senate President to comply with Section 100 of the Senate Standing Rules, which provides for Senate approval of the committees before they can go into operation, saying such development had also nullified the efforts of the Senate Selection Committee.
He insisted that the committees were not subject to the approval of all senators in plenary. He said that the Selection Committee was not properly constituted in that it was made up mainly of new senators, flouting the standing order, which specified that it should be constituted based on ranking.
Legislative tyranny
Hear him: “What we are witnessing today in the National Assembly and the Senate in particular is legislative tyranny, where impunity wants to be the order of the day.
“Laws are meant to be respected and if we can treat our Order with impunity, then we have no business being here.
“There is no committee. They are not legally constituted and they cannot function. Any further action is unacceptable to Nigerians and I have discharged that responsibility.”
Speaking in the same vein, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, APC, Kaduna North, said there were procedures for constituting standing committees.
Hunkuyi, who was appointed Vice Chairman, Federal Character Commission and Inter-Governmental Affairs, said there was no resolution on the committees at plenary.
But reacting to the allegations, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Abdullahi Sabi, said the committees were approved during the adoption of votes and proceedings.
According to him, no lawmaker had the power to declare any proceeding in the House null and void because they were not judges.
ABUJA — The 96 new standing committees of the House of Representatives were yesterday inaugurated at a session boycotted by the House leader, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Reflective of the continuing schism in the House, Gbajabiamila’s loyalists turned up at the national headquarters of the All Progressives Congress, APC where they accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara of mortgaging the interest of the party to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and of being in cahoots with the opposition party to derail the change mantra that brought the APC to power.
Yakubu Dogara
They fumed that besides splitting the leadership of the committees with the opposition PDP, Dogara allowed opposition House members to take control of sensitive House committees.
Loyalists of the speaker rebuffed the claim yesterday as they gave note of their readiness to frontally dismiss the insinuations today.
Speaker Dogara who side-stepped the rebellion from the House leader at the inauguration ceremony, nevertheless frontally addressed other criticisms arising from the increase in the number of the committees. Present at the joint inauguration of the committees were Senate President, Bukola Saraki, former principal and presiding officers, Head of Service, Service Chiefs, Civil Society Organisations as well as traditional rulers.
Saraki, in a goodwill message at the ceremony affirmed that the National Assembly would not allow itself to be a platform for the promotion of interests against the common good.
Dogara who vowed that any under-performing committee official would be removed said the joint inauguration of the 96 committees was to enable them to hit the ground running. He also dismissed insinuations that some committees termed juicy were of more material benefit.
He said: “The decision to formally inaugurate all the Committees at once is borne out of the need for them to hit the ground running. It is also informed by the need to save cost and reduce legislative time that may be spent in inaugurating each Committee independently.
“Some commentators have decried the large number of Committees as being unwieldy and non cost effective. This criticism, though apparently well intentioned, misses the point.
“Experience gained from the operation of committees since 1999, shows that some committees’ functions and mandates are very wide indeed and cannot be effectively supervised and oversighted by a single committee.
“For instance, the House split the Committee on Education into two, namely: Basic Education and Services and Tertiary Education and Services.”
He said that the old Committee on Education had a mandate to oversight the budget and policy issues of 104 unity schools, 22 federal colleges of education, 36 federal universities and 24 federal polytechnics. Stressing that the committee also had 25 other government agencies and all aspects of education in Nigeria, he further explained,
“There is no way a single committee can adequately oversight all these agencies with House members also attending to other issues in plenary sessions, like law-making and other representational responsibilities.”
He said the Standing Orders of the House enjoined Special and Standing Committees, to create Sub–Committees as may be required and to appoint Sub- Committee Chairmen, in consultation with the Speaker.
He said this had led to friction between chairmen of substantive committees and chairmen of sub-committees and that in order to avoid gridlock, even though the committees were still expected to have sub-committees, effort had been made to create substantive committees where necessary in order to devote more attention to issues of priority to the House.
“Undoubtedly, the legislature remains the only institution with appropriate constitutional and statutory powers to check the executive branch and ensure that it discharges its mandate to the full benefit of all Nigerians.
“It is important to note that the Change promised Nigerians can only endure and outlive any government that introduced it only when it is anchored on legislation and not mere policy. Policy can easily be changed by an incoming government.
“Change itself must be regulated, so that our people would not face the dangers of unregulated change. That is why the legislative institution is central to the future we seek as a people.
“It is necessary to point out that the splitting of committees has not resulted in increased cost of running the house. The committee clerks and other staff of the committees are sourced from the existing pool of staff that are paid salaries and allowances already by the National Assembly.
“The committee members are already paid salaries also by the National Assembly. No person gets an increased remuneration by virtue of appointment as a committee member or chairman.The National Assembly budget has not been increased as a result.
“The situation in the Legislature is slightly different from the situation in the executive branch where creating a new agency or ministry may lead to increased costs of running the offices.”
On the issue of juicy and non-juicy committees, Speaker Dogara said:
“Let me use this opportunity to restate that there is nothing like juicy committee or non-juicy committee. I personally do not understand what is meant by that. If it means opportunity to contribute, we can assure you that every member of a committee would enjoy ample and equal opportunity.
“Every committee of the House is very important and is designed to handle specific functions for the House and on behalf of the Nigerian people who elected us.”
Inauguration unique, says Saraki
In his goodwill message, Senator Saraki said the inauguration was unique as it signposts the readiness and commitment of the National Assembly comprising the House and the Senate to innovative lawmaking.
He said, “It will be recalled that for the first time in the history of the National Assembly the two chambers of the House and the Senate separately forged and adopted legislative agenda to guide its activities in order to give the 8th National Assembly ambition, direction and a national goal towards socio-economic and political reforms.
“To all Nigerians I say this, as your representatives, we owe you not only our hard-work, but our judgment. This National Assembly will not be a parliament of ambassadors from different and hostile interests; which interests we maintain as agents and advocates against one another in perpetual conflict.
“Rather, the 8th National Assembly will remain a united, deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole nation, not local prejudices or affiliations but working for the public good with collective purpose.”
While Rep. Austine Chukwukere representing Ideato Federal Constituency commended the Speaker for carrying everybody along irrespective of tribe or political affiliation, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Jonathan Gaza could not provide explanations for the absence of the Majority Leader, especially as he was scheduled on the order paper.
Gaza while reacting to questions on why Gbajabiamila was not present at the inauguration, said, “I do not know why he was absent, but I believe it was for a good cause.”
He described as unfortunate, reports that some aggrieved members boycotted the inauguration, stating that Nigeria should be bigger than any individual.
He said: “Time has been wasted on several things…when you walk into that chamber, it’s not about parties anymore. We swore allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not to our respective parties; it is therefore about the progress of Nigeria. The wheel of governance is spinning and Nigeria would begin its upward move.”
In a lecture at the inauguration, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche declared that standing committees of the National Assembly enhance the efficiency and performance of the legislature in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
Speaking on the theme: “The role of committees in a presidential system of government,” he said globally, parliaments were relying more on committees to discharge their functions and to operate more efficiently.
Meanwhile, Dogara’s loyalists stormed the national secretariat just as the inauguration got underway to protest what they claimed as the plot by the speaker to devalue the APC brand in the House.
Following a closed door meeting with members of the National Working Committee, NWC of the party at the national secretariat in Abuja, the lawmakers who operated under the aegis of “APC House Loyal Members”, affirmed that it was against democratic principles to share committees equally with the opposition.
ABUJA—APPARENTLY shocked by the list of committees announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, last Thursday, members, who supported the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate for speakership, Femi Gbajabiamila have expressed disappointment over what they described as a lopsided appointments of committee chairmen by the House leadership.
The Speaker, Dogara had announced chairmen and deputy chairmen for the 96 standing committees of the House, with members considered to be his loyalists getting some of the ‘juicy’ committees.
But the new spokesman of the House, Abdulrazak Namdas in a statement last Friday, debunked the claims that Dogara’s men got more lucrative committees.
According to some members of the Loyalists Group, who spoke to Vanguard, it was surprising that out of the 96 committees, only nine of them were appointed as chairmen.
Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state and former speaker of the federal house of representatives, says the emergence of Yakubu Dogara as his successor was based on merit.
Aminu Tambuwal
He Dogara as “a detribalised and committed Nigerian”, saying he decided to support him over Femi Gbajabiamila – who he admitted was his close ally – because of his “competence”.
Tambuwal was speaking on Monday when a delegation from Sayawa communities in Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa local government areas of Bauchi state paid him a courtesy visit. “Dogara is a patriotic, committed and pious Nigerian who has been tested and trusted,” he said.
“He is one young northerner and Nigerian who has not only integrity, but accommodation and the ability for leadership.
“When you are talking about leadership, you must put away sentiments. I have strong affinity with Hon Femi. He was closer to me than Dogara. But when talking about leadership and collective decisions, sentiments have to be put aside.
“I’m not here to tell you that my support made Dogara the speaker. Two factors worked for Dogara; one is God and the second is his competence.
“The acknowledgement of Dogara’s competence did not start with me. It started from the time of Hon Patricia and Etteh and Hon Dimeji Bankole when they entrusted him with a sensitive position of the chairman of house services committee.
“The committee is one of the most sensitive in the legislature. Apart from taking care of the welfare of members, the committee oversees all procurement processes. As the speaker, I only did what my predecessors did by giving Dogara this sensitive position.
“No person, as far as I know, has served as chairman of the house services committee in two dispensations. Dogara broke that jinx. All through my tenure, I brought Dogara close to me because I found in him a person who is competent, accommodating, and with capacity to lead.
“Anyone doubting Dogara’s ability to lead should ask members of the 7th assembly how he handled their matter. So I supported Dogara because he was competent to deliver on any task given to him and his emergence as the speaker was based on merit and divined by God.”
Ishaku Komu, the paramount ruler of Sayawa community, who led the delegation, thanked Tambuwal for supporting Dogara, an indigene of Bauchi. The monarch promised Nigerians that their son would live up to expectation.
He also urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him effect the desired changes in the country. In his remarks, Suleiman Bogoro, executive secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), also an indigene of the community, described Tambuwal as “bridge builder”.
Prominent politicians in the South-West geo-political zone on Sunday gave the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie Oyegun a pat on the back for a job well done.
APC National Chairman, Odigie Oyegun
They also praised him for cherishing the mood of the people and using the power of the office of the national chairman to promote the interests of the Yoruba people.
The leaders were happy with Yakubu Dogara’s acceptance of Femi Gbajabiamila as Majority Leader of the House of Representatives and the contributions made by the national chairman of the party.
They described Oyegun as a transparently impartial father of all.
In a statement by the chairman of Yoruba Front (YF), Alhaji Ganiyu Alao at the end of an emergency meeting in Surulere, the leaders expressed profound satisfaction with John Odigie-Oyegun’s leadership for the matured way in which the House of Representatives issue was resolved in favour of both Gbajabiamila and the Yoruba nation.
They commended President Muhammadu Buhari for demonstrating open-mindedness in the running of the party and the country.
“We are happy with the recent development in the House of Representatives. It’s more about making the party work and where everybody’s voice matters “the leaders said.
They also said that the past should be regarded by all concerned as dead and buried.
The leaders while pledging to continue committing the national chairman to Allah to grant him wisdom, forbearance, understanding and objectivity in running the affairs of the party, implored President Muhammadu Buhari to continue to perform his duties with all moral and spiritual conviction.
They appealed to Nigerians to team up with President Buhari in the discharge of his onerous responsibilities.
TROUBLE is not yet over for the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the meeting called on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve its leadership crisis in the House of Representatives ended in a deadlock.
Yakubu Dogara
The APC House members, led by the Speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, met with the President for about 20 minutes at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, but were unable to reach a common ground as factions loyal to the Speaker and former Minority Leader of the House, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, gave contrary opinions on what transpired at the meeting.
Gbajabiamila narrowly lost his bid to become Speaker of the House of Representatives to Dogara despite being the favoured for the post by the leadership of the party.
His bid to become the Leader of the House is also being resisted by the House leadership which was reported to have zoned the position to the North West and effectively knocking out the Lagos lawmaker.
The House leadership has, however, conceded the position to a member of the Gbajabiamila group who must be from the North West in order to maintain the Federal Character principle in the appointment of principal officers of the House but this had not gone done well with Gbajabiamila’s loyalists.
President Buhari had therefore convened Monday’s meeting to find a way out of the logjam.
Also in the meeting were the Deputy a Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yusuf Lasun; APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and some members of his National Working Committee (NWC) including National Secretary, Ibrahim Gubi; National Deputy Chairman South, Chief Segun Oni and National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Emerging from the meeting, Dogara told correspondents that the meeting was a family meeting but noted that consultations would continue intoMonday night with the hope that the leadership crisis could be resolved.
“I believe that by this night, there will be compromise. We are still talking. But I think this is the first time everybody coming together in a cordial atmosphere,” he said.
In his remarks, Chief Odigie-Oyegun said so much ground was covered in the 20-minute meeting, saying, “You will be very surprised that a lot was achieved in 20 minutes.”
He was confident that a compromised had been reached, saying, “I have a feeling in another three four hours and by tomorrow, we will have come to a compromise and have good news for the nation.”
Also speaking, Gbajabiamila described the meeting as a ‘family meeting,’ insisting that discussion would go on among the party members to resolve the lingering crisis.
“It is not about magic. This is a family that has come together and we are here to resolve the problem and we shall move ahead to resolve the issue this evening,” he said.
Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, an ally of former House of Representatives Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said on Wednesday that he considered the offer made to him to become the Majority Leader of the House as a possible solution to the raging leadership tussle in the legislature.
Yakubu Dogara
“I consider this offer good if it is genuine; the Speaker (Yakubu Dogara) has given the assurances that he is ready for peace to prevail in the House.
“This offer, to my mind, is a good gesture and we can work with it – given the assurances by the Speaker,” he stated.
Ado-Doguwa spoke exclusively with The PUNCH at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Ado-Doguwa, who is from Kano State, is a member of the All Progressives Congress’ Loyalists Group, which has for long, insisted that the party’s sharing formula for principal offices must be obeyed.
However, he clarified that members of the group had not met to discuss the offer, but he called on them to reason along with him.
“I am just expressing my own view on this matter; that we have to accept this offer so that we can move ahead. I believe that the general opinion of Nigerians is that this crisis has dragged on for too long and we should end it and allow the government to move on,” Ado-Doguwa added.
The APC had zoned the position of Majority Leader to the South-West and recommended Gbajabiamila to occupy the seat.
The party also zoned the office of Deputy Leader to the North-West and had recommended Ado-Doguwa to occupy the office.
The party zoned the offices of Chief Whip and Deputy Whip to the North-East and South-South respectively.
But the North-East and South-South later swapped the positions.
The 8th Assembly Consolidation Group led by Dogara had opposed the party and instead proposed to have the North-West (Ado-Doguwa) occupy the office of Majority Leader.
Dogara zoned the post of Deputy Leader to the North-Central while he also zoned the position of the Chief Whip to the South-South and that of the Deputy Whip to the South-East.
It will be recalled that the refusal of Dogara to zone the offices as recommended by the party had led to the fracas on the floor of the House on June 25, forcing lawmakers to proceed on a four-week break.
While the Speaker claimed that his decision was in the interest of “federal character,” the Gbajabiamila group had argued that “party supremacy” must prevail.
Ado-Doguwa has been a staunch supporter of Gbajabiamila who took active part in the June 25 fighting.
He was the member who climbed a desk right in front of Dogara, shouting that the party’s decision must be obeyed.
Investigations by The PUNCH confirmed a speculation that Ado-Doguwa had come under pressure to back down and accept the offer by the Speaker.
His new stance also confirmed a speculation that Dogara had broken the ranks of the APC Loyalists Group, using the offer made to Ado-Doguwa as the major bait.
On Thursday last week, Ado-Doguwa had disclosed to The PUNCH that the group was ready to engage the Dogara group in a “give and take discussions.”
“We are ready to sit and talk. We will give something and we believe they too can give up something,” he said.
But the spokesman for the Gbajabiamila group, Mr. Nasiru Zango-Daura, gave a different position, insisting that the group would not go against the stance of the APC.
Findings showed that Dogara and Ado-Doguwa had met twice and the Speaker, on both occasions, reportedly assured him that he was ready to work with the group if he (Ado-Doguwa) would accept to be the Majority Leader.
“There was a divide and rule strategy the Speaker adopted, knowing that the North-West has the highest number of 86 APC members in the House.
“He broke their ranks and with the pressure mounted on Ado-Doguwa, he began to weigh his options,” a senior House official informed The PUNCH on Wednesday.
Gbajabiamila did not respond to the latest development when his reactions were sought on Wednesday.
He did not reply texts messages our correspondent sent to him on the subject.
The Femi Gbajabiamila-led faction of the All Progressives Congress members in the House of Representatives, has said it is prepared for an election to determine the Majority Leader of House, to end weeks of bickering over leadership positions.
The group said it has made its position clear to a peace committee headed by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, that its members will only accept an offer that guarantees the emergence of Mr. Gbajabiamila as the leader of APC in the House.
Femi Gbajabiamila
“However, as a group that wants peace and quick solution to the logjam in the House, the APC loyalists group would equally subscribe to an election among entire members of the APC House Caucus where all members irrespective of zones would exercise their right to elect their principal officers,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.
The opposing faction of APC lawmakers in the House, led by the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, had told PREMIUM TIMES that it was willing to concede the Majority Leader position to the Gbajabiamila group, on the condition that the candidate for the slot must be from any zone other than North East or South West, since both zones produced the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
The group cited the federal character, and warned that it will call for an election if its offer failed to resolve the crisis.
Mr. Gbajabiamila, backed by the APC leadership to be named the Majority Leader, is from the South West.
The party had initially adopted him for the position of speaker, but later settled for the Majority leader — the third most senior position after the deputy speaker — after he lost the election to the seat to Mr. Dogara.
The House of Representatives has since its inauguration been rocked by crisis over key leadership positions.
The Gbajabiamila group said Wednesday it was unaware of the offer by the Dogara group, as the mediator, Mr. Tambuwal, was yet to brief its members after their initial meeting.
In a statement signed by Rufai Chachangi, from Niger State, the group said “We the 174 APC Loyalists group of the House are aware that there was a private discussion between Gov. Aminu Tambuwal and President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening at the State House. Also aware that Gov. Tambuwal briefed the press that there would be a meeting between him and Speaker Dogara’s group same day.
“To the best of our knowledge, no counter-offer has been made to the APC loyalists group after her first meeting with Tambuwal peace committee wherein the APC loyalists clearly stated that in line with party supremacy, resolution reached at last APC NEC meeting, the position of the party on Femi Gbajabiamila as the House Leader is non-negotiable.”
Against the background of the Federal Character principle cited by Dogara group, the Gbajabiamila group said, “Interestingly the six geopolitical zones in the country are not recognised by the constitution. But if they wish to play the zoning card then the Senate and House cannot be headed by the North.”
They alleged that the Dogara group had rejected zoning formula proposed by the party before the June 6 election, but now plays the “zoning card”.
Mr. Dogara says he wants to ensure no zone is excluded from the principal offices.
But the APC-backed Gbajabiamila group said, “For avoidance of doubt, the issue of South East being denied a principal officer’s seat in the House is hogwash. We have respect for people of South East but we cannot hold brief for a zone that produced only two “new” APC members.
“The issue of exclusion of South East does not exist rather they are not qualified to be principal officers of the House. For emphasis and clarity the provision of standing rules of the House, Order 7 Rule 37 states that ”Only members with cognate legislative experience as members of the national assembly shall be eligible for appointment as principal officers.
“We are also surprised that a group led by Speaker Dogara who is a lawyer is talking about a court action presumably instigated by him based on federal character, when a fresh law school graduate knows that the issue of federal character as enshrined in S.14 of the constitution is non-justiciable and of no legal consequence.”
The group continued, “In playing his mediatory role, the former House Speaker, Gov. Tambuwal agreed to take our position to Dogara group for consideration and convene a joint meeting of both groups, which is yet to be convened as at Wednesday evening. So any purported decision reeled out to the public in the name of the National Assembly peace pact before such joint meeting is lopsided and not acceptable to the APC Loyalists group”.
Members of the House of Representatives loyal to the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, have said they will ensure federal character as enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution is adhered to in the appointment of Principal Officers of the House.
Yakubu Dogara
The group said it stands by its offer that south west and north east cannot produce the majority leader of the House. The major contender for the slot is Femi Gbajabiamila, who is from the south west.
The Dogara group said this in a statement signed by Abdulmumini Jibrin, representing Kano, in reaction to an earlier statement released by members loyal to Mr. Gbajabiamila, who is the ruling All Progressives Congress’ preferred candidate for the position of Majority Leader.
The APC had initially adopted Mr. Gbajabiamila to become speaker. He lost the seat to Mr. Dogara.
Mr. Dogara rejects Mr. Gbajabiamila as the leader of the APC caucus in the house. He cites federal character since the deputy speaker, Yusuf Lasun, like Mr. Gbajabiamila, is from the south west.
The Dogara faction said Wednesday it was offering the Gbajabiamila faction the majority leader, but said the slot must be occupied by a lawmaker from any region except south west and north east, where Mr. Dogara comes from.
The group said it was making the offer to end weeks of bickering that has stalled legislative functions.
The Gbajabiamila group said Wednesday while it was yet to formally be given the offer, its stance that Gbajabiamila be made the Majority Leader was not negotiable.
The Dogara group has reacted to the demand, insisting on respect for federal character in distribution of appointments.
In its statement early Thursday, the group said every geopolitical zone in Nigeria be given representation in the principal officers of the House.
They also faulted the argument by the Gbajabiamila group that the South East Zone produced only two “new” members, who do not have cognate legislative experience and therefore not entitled to be represented in the principal officers’ cadre.
“In the first place, any person acquainted with the Rules and practice of the House knows that a new member is regarded as having “cognate legislative experience” immediately he is sworn in as a Member as it is only new members- elect that are affected by the Rule,” they said.
They also said established precedents in the Senate and House of Representatives had shown consistent respect for zonal representation in the election of principal officers, even when there were only a few from a zone.
“It is as a result of this, that the 7th Senate, elected Senator Ayoola Hosea Agboola, Deputy Chief Whip, even though he was the only Member from his party from the South West.
“Furthermore, in the 7th House of Representatives, Hon Mulikat Akande, was made House Leader even though she was one of only five members from her party from her Zone.
“Even only recently, in the 8th Senate, Senator Francis Alimikhena, from the South South has been made Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, a principal officer , even though he is a “new” member and the only member of APC from the South South,” they said.
The Dogara group also faulted the decision of the APC leadership on the matter, saying if adhered to, the party position would completely shut out the North Central zone which has 33 members in the House from the APC.
“This so called party position, if allowed to stand, would result in the South West producing the Deputy Speaker and Leader of the House and North East would produce Speaker and Chief Whip of the House. This is most unfair and inequitable.
“In fact, there is no evidence that any of the Organs of the Party, APC, such as the National Working Committee, the National Caucus or National Executive Committee, approved such an unjust outcome. We insist that this is not even the Party position,” the group said.
The Dogara group also said it was “erroneous” to assert that there was a resolution at the recent meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the APC on Party supremacy that recognized any one as House Leader or any other principal officer of the House.
“The matter was not an item on the Agenda of the APC NEC meeting and no such resolution or decision was taken,” they said.
The group insisted that the way out of the logjam, is for the aggrieved APC members who lost election for the Presiding Officers of the House, to accept the offer extended to them to produce the House Leader from among themselves, but excluding any member from the South West or North East.
“If this magnanimity is not accepted, then the generally accepted method of choosing Principal Officers in the House over the years by Caucuses would be activated,” they said.
Hope for resolving the leadership tussle in the House of Representatives dimmed on Sunday as a one-on-one meeting between the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and a former Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, failed to make a headway.
Femi Gbajabiamila
Yakubu Dogara
Findings showed that the two sides had met in Abuja ahead of another intervention meeting on the crisis by a committee of three set up by the governors of the All Progressives Congress.
The governors had nominated Sokoto State Governor, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House, to chair the small committee.
However, investigations revealed that at the earlier meeting between Dogara and Gbajabiamila’s groups, the speaker had offered Gbajabiamila the chairmanship of the Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review.
The influential and heavily-funded committee deals with issues relating to amendment of the 1999 Constitution and the added responsibility of looking at the report of the 2014 National Conference.
It was learnt that with an estimated yearly funding of about N1bn, the committee would spend around N4bn between 2015 and 2019.
Under the relevant rules of the House, the committee is usually chaired by the Deputy Speaker (in this instance, Mr. Yusuf Lasun), with members drawn from the six geo-political zones.
But, investigations by The PUNCH showed that Dogara was willing to give the position to Gbajabiamila in exchange for the position of House Majority Leader.
It was gathered that to make this possible, the House might have to amend its rules to accommodate the transfer of the responsibility from Lasun to Gbajabiamila, as part of efforts to resolve the leadership tussle within the majority All Progressives Congress caucus.
The former minority leader was said to have promptly rejected the offer, insisting on becoming the majority leader in compliance with the decision of the APC.
A National Assembly official confided in The PUNCH that Dogara’s group went to the meeting with Gbajabiamila to restate its position that the principal offices in the House should go round the six geo-political zones.
The source said, “The Speaker made the offer because he was still insisting that it would be unfair to other zones for the South-West to produce both the deputy speaker and the majority leader.
“The ad hoc committee is an important committee and the Speaker offered it in place of the majority leader position that Gbajabiamila is seeking.
“But, there was no headway because the Gbajabiamila group turned it down and said they would stick to the decision of the APC.”
The former minority leader was said to have argued that the issue was not about heading committees but to instill party discipline and “sustain good governance.”
When The PUNCH sought the comments of Gbajabiamila on the alleged offer, he first denied knowledge of it, saying, “I am not aware; you are the one telling me.”
However, when our correspondent asked further if he would accept such an offer, Gbajabiamila replied that if he got the offer he would apply the position of the party.
“I will go with the party’s decision and the decision of the majority of members of my caucus,” he told our correspondent.
He also admitted that discussions were ongoing to resolve the dispute as of 3.09pm on Sunday.
Also, our correspondents learnt that the Gbajabiamila-led group met with the Governor Aminu Tambuwal-led three member committee, in an undisclosed location in Abuja, on Sunday. At the meeting, Gbajabiamila refused to shift ground.
He pointedly told the Governor Aminu Tambuwal-led committee that the onus was on Dogara group to respect the party’s position.
When contacted, Gbajabiamila confirmed to The PUNCH that his group indeed met with the Tambuwal committee on Sunday.
However, he clarified that the meeting ended without his group shifting ground on its demand that the party’s decision must prevail.
He said, “There are people who are saying party supremacy is no longer relevant.
“Well, our position is clear; it is either party supremacy or the entire APC caucus will conduct an election to decide on this matter.
“This point was made very clearly at the meeting,” Gbajabiamila said.
ABUJA – Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his associates in the House of Representatives plan to decimate the All Progressives Congress, APC before returning to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members of the House aligned to Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila have told President Muhammadu Buhari.
Femi Gbajabiamila
The Gbajabiamila group in their closed door-session with the President Wednesday night also dismissed assertions by allies of Speaker Dogara that the party’s proposal for Gbajabiamila to become House Leader was a violation of the federal character principle, saying the principle was inapplicable in the distribution of offices in the House.
The meeting between 30 members of the group and the President was reportedly convened to lessen tension ahead of today’s National Executive Committee, NEC meeting of the party. That plan was, however, last night, about to come unstuck upon plans by some former governors in the party from the North to challenge the seemingly pre-eminent position of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in party affairs. The group, it was gathered yesterday, plan to question the presence of their fellow former governor, Tinubu at the NEC meeting and to storm the meeting if he, Tinubu is allowed to attend.
Supporters of Speaker Dogara in the group were also becoming restive last night upon claims of a proposal from the President that supporters of Gbajabiamila and Senator Ahmad Lawan who also lost out in the Senate leadership contest should nominate three candidates from each of the six geo-political zones as members of NEC.
What Gbajabiamila group told Buhari
In their presentation to the President at the Wednesday night meeting, the Gbajabiamila group had in their 11-point presentation affirmed the loyalty of the group’s 174 members to the party and questioned the loyalty of the 39 they claimed are associated with Dogara.
Noting what they described as the party’s lame reactions to the alleged rebellions of Dogara and the other 38 members, they charged the President to frontally intervene as they alleged that the purpose of the Dogara group was to frustrate the President and set the stage for their members to defect to the PDP.
They said:
“It is noteworthy that Mr. President and the Governors have strongly put their weight behind the party and had severally admonished the House to abide by the party’s position. The 39 APC members in the House continue 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 cautioning the 39 members, which include the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, to respect, honour and obey our party Leaders and their directives.”
Decrying the insistence of the Dogara group in rejecting the party’s nominations for principal officers on the basis of federal character, the Gbajabiamila group asserted that the federal character principle was inapplicable in the National Assembly, averring further that the principle of federal character is not justiciable and is of no legal consequence.
That assertion was apparently in response to the judicial action filed by the North-Central caucus of the House of Representatives against the party’s prescription which would deny the North-Central and South-East geo-political zones of representation in the leadership.
In articulating their positions against federal character, the group noted how the different political parties had in the past thrown up principal officers from the same zone.
“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 Section 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 principle 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.”
They thus called on the President to charge the speaker to return to the party, saying:
“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.”
Supporters of Dogara were meanwhile, livid over the presentation, saying it was evident that the Gbajabiamila group did not want reconciliation.
They picked holes in claims that the ruling party had not applied federal character in the distribution of principal officers in the House of Representatives.
Ex-govs seek restructuring of party
Meanwhile, former governors in the party are pushing for a restructuring of the party along the line of legacy parties.
Noting that the crisis in the party was being stoked by a few from the South-West, the former governors, it was gathered, plan to question Tinubu’s role as national leader on claims that there is no provision for such in the constitution.
The group it was learnt, said that any attempt to allow Tinubu into the meeting hall would force them also to insist on attending the meeting.
According to a source, the governors have decided to gather at the party’s national secretariat and attempt to join the meeting if Tinubu is allowed into the meeting venue.
The Northern elements and chieftains of the party were said to have taken offence, averring that the South West was stoking the embers of discord in the party.
The chieftains warned that the crisis in the party arising from the election of principal officers of the National Assembly, “was gradually becoming a distraction to the party and could stall its manifesto of change.”
The Northern political leaders also renounced Akande’s statement on Monday which castigated the election of Saraki and Dogara as being sponsored by oil barons.
Saraki, Dogara’s positions not negotiable — Sen Umaru
Meanwhile, Senator David Umaru (APC, Niger East) has declared that the positions of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives are “not negotiable.”
Senator Umaru debunked insinuations that the Like Minds, the group pf senators loyal to the Senate President traded away the position of Deputy Senate President to the PDP.
“We were lucky that the PDP members in the chamber that day were reasonable during the election. The existing laws are very clear: Senators and members of the House of Representative members are the ones that should elect their leaders.
“There is a very good reason for this and that is because the lawmakers are the ones to work with their leaders. The issue of the election of Dr. Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogora as Speaker is not negotiable. It cannot be negotiated outside the National Assembly.”
Members of the House of Representatives who are in support of Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila on Wednesday evening appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and members of his group to order.
Yakubu Dogara
They accused the All Progressives Congress’ members on the side of Dogara of allegedly colluding with the Peoples Democratic Party to polarise the ruling party to give room for them to later defect to the PDP.
This was one of the issues they raised when they met with Buhari behind closed-doors at the Conference Hall of the First Lady’s Office inside the Presidential Villa on Wednesday evening.
Copies of their presentation to the President were made available to journalists at the end of the meeting also attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The 30 lawmakers who attended the meeting on behalf of their colleagues were led by Gbajabiamila.
They said the President’s intervention was needed in order to save the party’s integrity.
They demanded that Dogara be asked to return to their fold and announce the other four principal officers positions in the House as directed by the party as it has always been the convention.
They said, “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’s position.
“The 39 APC members in the House continue 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 constitution, respect and honour 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.”
The lawmakers said while Gbajabiamila and the party’s choice for the position of Deputy Speaker had openly congratulated Dogara and his deputy, the opposition and the 39 APC members continued to hold the APC leadership in contempt.
They wondered what would be the reward of the 174 of them that have remained obedient and loyal to the party.
While noting that the Speaker’s group had cited the Federal Character principle as the reason why they will not honour the party’s directive on the choice of the remaining principal officers, the lawmakers said that principle was not applicable to the National Assembly.
“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,” they argued.
Gbajabiamila later told State House correspondents that he led the lawmakers who belong to the APC caucus to meet with the President in order to iron out the issues that had arisen since June 9 and find a way forward.
He described the meeting as a very successful one, saying the APC caucus and the party would come out bigger, stronger and better for it.
When asked what the President told them, Gbajabiamila said Buhari is a party man who believes in party supremacy and the party’s ideologies.
When asked why Dogara would be absent at the meeting when he claimed that it was for APC caucus, the lawmaker said the Speaker could have other engagements.
He said, “The Speaker probably has other engagements. There are a few members of the caucus that are not here. We could not get everybody here.
“This is a representation of the caucus. When we are talking about the caucus, we are talking about 210 members. You did not find all the members here.
“This is a representation of the 210 members.”
When reminded that all those who attended are members of his camp, Gbajabiamila said, “It is not about me and we need to get that clear. Yes, they voted for me but the idea is that they supported the party.
“That is who we are and there is nothing more to be said about that. It is not about any individual.”
When also asked the way forward after the meeting with the President, the lawmaker said the party’s will would be done.
He said the sooner all lawmakers recognised the fact that they did not get to the House as independent candidates, the sooner they would chart a way forward.
Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the official candidate of the APC who lost to Dogara in the leadership contest also pledged his allegiance to the new speaker of the House of Representatives.
Femi Gbajabiamila
Speaking, yesterday, when he led about 20 supporters of his aspiration to the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, Gbajabiamila said they have accepted defeat.
He also overruled any legal action against the Dogara.
He said: “We have just gone through an election in the House, so we came to meet with the party regarding the election and how the party is going to remain strong and united and move forward so that we can deliver the deliverables and programmes of the party through the House.
“Go to court for what? I don’t know about the Senate. I can only speak for the House. Nothing happened in the House. We had an election. It is different from the Senate. In the Senate, people were deprived of their fundamental rights to express themselves and vote.
“We will work with the leadership of the House and the Speaker, so long as the party’s programmes are properly articulated and pursued on the floor of the House. We will work with the leader of the House. He is an APC member. He is not the Speaker of the APC. He is the speaker of the whole House.”
Asked if he was in support of the party’s position to take disciplinary action against the erring members, the former minority leader said: “That is the prerogative of the party. All I know is that in every association, there must be discipline. Whatever the party decides to do, that is for the party. It is not for me.”
Similarly, Mohammed Monguno, who ran for the office of the deputy speaker from Gbajabiamila’s camp but lost to Yusuf, also told journalists they would allow peace to reign in the interest of the nation.
He, however, regretted that some members of the party ignored APC’s decision and expressed his support for sanctions against the erring members.
“Definitely, if a party member errs, there must be sanction so that it will serve as a deterrent for others not to do same in future”, he said.
ABUJA— Legal move to disqualify Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila from emerging as the Speaker of the House of Representatives failed before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court Monday.
In a chamber ruling, Justice Abdul Kafarati, instead of restraining the House of Reps from accepting the nomination of Hon. Gbajabiamila as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker, directed the plaintiff to go and put the defendant on notice.
Femi Gbajabiamila
Justice Kafarati ordered the service of all the relevant court processes on Gbajabiamila to enable him to appear in court on June 18 to show cause why he should not be disqualified from holding the Speakership position following his alleged conviction by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2007.
The plaintiff in the matter, the Registered Trustees of Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness Initiative, had in the suit they lodged through their lawyer, Mr. Chukwuma Nwachukwu, contended that Hon. Gbajabiamila is not morally fit to head the third arm of governance in Nigeria.
The group adduced evidence indicating that Gbajabiamila was on February 26, 2007, “convicted in the state of Georgia for unethical practices and was debarred as a lawyer for 36 months”.
The group, in an ex-parte motion it filed pursuant to Order 26 Rule 8 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009, Monday, prayed the high court to stop Gbajabiamila from even presenting himself for the speakership position.
The motion was argued on behalf of the group by Human Rights lawyer, Chief Mike Ozehkome, SAN.
Aside Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives and the Attorney General of the Federation were equally cited as defendants in the matter.
Specifically, the plaintiff prayed the court for, “An order of interim injunction restraining the 2nd defendant from accepting the nomination of the 1st defendant as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives pending the determination of the motion on notice”.
In a 14-paragraphed supporting affidavit that was deposed to by one Alojie Nmerengira, the plaintiff told the court that its investigations revealed that Gbajabiamila was hitherto convicted by the apex court of Georgia, even as it attached a copy of the order of the court as ‘Exhibit A’.
Nmerengira averred: “That I am the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the plaintiff organization by virtue of which I am very conversant with the facts deposed herein.
“That the 1st defendant is a member of the House of Representatives who nurses the ambition of becoming the Speaker of the House in the next Assembly. That the 2nd defendant is the constitution body created to carry out legislative functions for the good governance and advancement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That the 3rd defendant is the Chief Law Officer of the Federation that ensures the sue enforcement of our Laws so that the nation does not fall into the pit of lawlessness.
“That as a sensible and responsible organisation, my board deemed it proper that to achieve the objective of the organisation, that we should intervene in public interest litigation in deserving situations.
“That few days ago it came to the public domain that the 1st defendant was a leading candidate to the position of the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“That my organisation, following the wind of change that has pervaded the political environment in Nigeria, deemed it proper to carry out a background check on the leading candidates for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“That I discovered that the 1st defendant was a lawyer and practiced in the United States of America, particularly in the state of Georgia.
“That upon further enquiry, I discovered that the 1st defendant was convicted in the state of Georgia for unethical practices and was debarred for 36 months. A copy of the order of the Supreme Court of Georgia to that effect is hereby attached and marked ‘Exhibit A’.
“That I also discovered that the 1st defendant has a United States international passport even though he has Nigerian descent which I discovered contravened our constitution as regards membership of the House of Representatives.
“That the mood of the nation today will not warrant placing the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the hands of any individual that has a tainted or questionable character.
“That it is in the interest of justice to grant the plaintiff’s prayers as no single person’s ambition is worth the diminishing of our collective patrimony in good governance and social justice.
“That I depose to this affidavit in good faith believing same to be true and correct in accordance with the Oaths Act, 1990″.
Meantime, in its substantive suit marked FHC/Abj/CS/501/2015, the plaintiff urged the court to go ahead and determine “Whether upon the construction of section 66 of the 1999 constitution as amended, the 1st defendant is fit and proper person to be elected to the House of Representatives and/or to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives”.
In their written address, the plaintiff said it has raised a triable issue “and as a responsible organisation has brought out an issue of national interest and importance for the due determination of the court”.
Besides, it prayed the court for the following reliefs, “A declaration that the 1st defendant is not fit and proper person to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives and/or as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“An order of injunction restraining the 2nd defendant from accepting the nomination of the 1st defendant as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“An order of injunction restraining the 1st defendant from parading himself as a member of the House of Representatives and also as an aspirant for the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
As well as, “An order of injunction restraining the 2nd and 3rd defendants from recognising the 1st defendant as a member and also as an aspirant for the office if the Speaker of the House if Representatives”.
Ahead of the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, the member-elect representing Etsako Federal Constituency of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has said the leadership of the All Progressives Congress did not impose the choice of House leadership on the lawmakers.
Femi Gbajabiamila
The immediate past Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, had polled 154 out of the 183 votes cast by members who registered for last Saturday’s mock election organised by the party.
The camp of the Chairman, Committee on House Services and a contender for the top position, Yakubu Dogara, had walk out of the exercise, rejecting the outcome of party primary.
But Shaibu told journalists in Benin on Monday that the action of the aggrieved lawmakers would not affect the emergence of Gbajabiamila as Speaker, which he said was “an internal arrangement.”
The lawmaker-elect said, “It is not affecting anything; it’s an internal arrangement. As I speak to you, both those that walked out and those that are in, we are working together to produce a Speaker of our own. We freely have chosen Honourable Femi Gbajiamila and Honourable Muhammed Monguno as our Deputy Speaker.
“There is no going back about it. These people were not imposed on us. They were chosen by us; they were not influenced by anybody externally. We decided and we cast ballot to choose them and the wish of the majority, which is overwhelming, has to have its way.”
Shaibu, who was the immediate past Majority Leader in the Edo State House of Assembly, argued that decision of the party to nominate the former Minority Leader as its sole candidate was a clear “reward” for his performance as a leader in the House and urged other lawmakers to support the move of the party to reposition the House.
