THERE were reported threats by more committee chairmen in the House of Representatives to resign their appointments over allegations of “unfair treatment” by the leadership of the lower federal chamber.
The situation, our correspondent learnt, had unsettled many members of the House, who feared that the development would destabilise the unity among the lawmakers as well as put the nation’s democracy in danger.
The PUNCH learnt on Monday that two other people among the newly-appointed committee chairmen had expressed dissatisfaction with the committees assigned to them and had vowed to reject their appointments.
In fact, our correspondent gathered that some of the House committee chairmen might announce their resignation on the floor of the House on Tuesday (today).
The development was said to have put the leadership “on guard” to watch for any untoward happenings.
“I know a particular chairman from one of the states in the South, who is very unhappy because of the committee assigned to him.
“He has been wondering whether his job will be reduced to reading newspapers as the chairman of the committee, since the committee really does not have any agency to oversee,” a National Assembly aide told our correspondent on Monday.
Investigations indicated that many of the aggrieved lawmakers were members of the All Progressives Congress, who felt that the majority party was not fairly treated in terms of the quantity and quality of committees they were given by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
Dogara had on Thursday, October 22, named the chairmen and deputy chairmen of 96 House standing committees.
Out of the figure, 48 chairmanship positions went to the APC, while the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party got 45 slots.
Included in the PDP’s share are prime committees like Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream); Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream); Committee on Gas Resources; Committee on Aviation; Committee on Power; Committee on Works; Committee on NDDC; Committee on Niger Delta; and Committee on Air Force.
Among the APC’s committees are Committee on Appropriations; Committee on Finance; Committee on Customs/Excise; Committee on Defence; Committee on Communications; and Committee on Agricultural Services.
But, some APC members in particular felt that Dogara should have given the committees on petroleum resources, gas resources, power, works and aviation, among others, to the majority party as well.
In addition, they had observed that the difference between 48 and 45 was three, meaning that the ruling party and the opposition almost tied on the number of committees they got from the speaker.
“During the 7th Assembly, Aminu Tambuwal gave only 16 or 18 committees to the opposition, despite the fact that he relied on the support of the opposition to become the speaker.
“As a PDP member then, Tambuwal ensured that his party took most of the committees, including all the important ones,” a source told The PUNCH.
At least, two APC lawmakers officially resigned their committee headship last week. One was a former Deputy Minority Whip, Mr. Garba Dhatti-Muhammad, who resigned as the Chairman, Committee on Solid Minerals Development. His official reason was that Dogara did not “consult” him before appointing him as a chairman.
Another member, Mr. Sunday Adepoju, rejected an offer to serve as the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Special Duties. Adepoju had claimed that he resigned because the APC was not fairly treated.
Dogara was out of the country to Israel last week when the two members resigned.
Investigations also showed that one PDP member, Mr. Hassan Saleh, sent a letter to the speaker’s office to say that he was not interested in serving as the deputy chairman, Committee on Local Content.
It was learnt that apart from the resignation threats was the case of other168 House members who were neither appointed as chairmen nor deputies and who were aggrieved.
Those not given any appointment were said to be angry at their “non-recognition” by Dogara.
“The truth is that some of these members complaining feel that they deserved to be chairmen of better committees.
“There are ranking members who feel they were given ‘small’ committees. They expected something big, not committees that exist in name.
“Not all excuses are necessarily about the party’s cause; no. But, you know that using the party’s cover attracts attention more,” one senior House official confided in The PUNCH.
The House leadership however stated again on Monday that the allocation of the committees took care of all interests, contrary to “claims” that the APC in particular was not fairly treated.
It said certain committees were by tradition reserved for particular zones of the country and could not be taken from them in a bid to please the APC members.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, who gave the stance of the leadership in an interview with The PUNCH, said members who wished to turn in their resignation could do so “so long as they follow due process.”
He said, “The House has passed the phase of committee distribution. We say we run a National Assembly and we must take cognisance of the fact that it is not all about APC.
“The APC was fairly treated; all sides were fairly represented. The APC has all the committees dealing with appropriations or finance. This is something we should not lose sight of at all.
“But, members who desire to resign can do so by observing due process.”
The House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, did not pick his calls when our correspondent tried to to get his comments on the issue.
He also did not reply to text messages our correspondent sent to him on the development in the House.
However, he had reacted last week by simply saying that “the list speaks for itself.”
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