Squabbles over key House of Representatives
committees among lawmakers have worsened,
leading to mounting tension between members
of the All Progressives Congress and the main
opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that the Speaker,
Mr. Yakubu Dogara, was also facing tough times
on how to keep “pre-election agreements” he
reportedly had with some lawmakers before the
June 9 speakership poll.
Key committees are referred to as ‘juicy
committees’ by lawmakers, a term suggesting
that such committees are lucrative and confer
certain advantages on the chairmen or the
members over others.
The Speaker, under the rules of the House,
chairs the Selection Committee, which has the
responsibility of appointing the chairmen of
standing committees.
There are over 94 standing committees of the
House waiting to be named.
Although principal officers and state caucuses
also sit on the committee, the prerogative of
deciding the chairmen remains the Speaker’s.
Investigations showed that the committee
started sitting last week as members proceeded
on a six-week recess to reconvene on September
29.
But The PUNCH learnt that some members
demanded chairmanship of particular committees
as compensation for working hard to ensure that
Dogara emerged as the Speaker.
The committees keenly sought as of Sunday
were Committee on Petroleum Resources
(Upstream); Committee on Petroleum Resources
(Downstream); Committee on Appropriation;
Committee on Finance; Committee on
Communications; Committee on Power;
Committee on Works; Committee on Customs;
Committee on NDDC; Committee on Electoral
Matters; Committee on Gas; Committee on
Aviation; Committee on Baking/Currency;
Committee on House Services; Committee on
Water Resources; Committee on Agriculture;
Committee on Education; and Committee on
Defence.
Findings indicated that there were some PDP
lawmakers who insisted on heading the
committees on petroleum resources as rewards
for backing the Speaker.
However, the APC members opposed the bid on
the grounds that high-profile committees were
rarely given to opposition members, “no matter
the circumstances.”
A popular female lawmaker from the South-South
is said to be the leader of the PDP group from
the zone insisting on heading the petroleum
committees.
“The member in question wants to chair the
Committee on Petroleum Resources (upstream),
saying that the Speaker gave his word during the
election campaigns.
“But, last week when she approached him
(Dogara) to remind him of his promise, the
Speaker told her to wait for committees that
would be zoned to her state first,” a National
Assembly official informed The PUNCH on
Sunday.
Dogara’s “diplomatic” response was said to have
come after the APC lawmakers protested that
such key committees were not meant for
opposition members.
Similarly, two senior PDP lawmakers from the
South-East are insisting on retaining their ‘Grade
A’ committees.
One of the committees oversees multi-billion
naira operations in the transportation sector.
“The problem now is that another influential APC
member from the North-Central is opposing them
and argues that a Grade A committee should
naturally go to an APC member.
“In the days of former Speaker, Aminu
Tambuwal, no opposition party member was
given such committees in spite of the fact that
the then Action Congress of Nigeria helped
Tambuwal to emerge as the Speaker,” the
source stated.
But the PDP members reportedly told Dogara
that “agreement is agreement,” and that the
Speaker must keep to his pre-election promise.
The PUNCH gathered that the most contested
committee remained the Committee on
Appropriation, which had torn three senior APC
members apart.
Two of the members, from Kano and Kwara
states respectively, were among the few APC
lawmakers who risked being punished by the
APC for daring to support Dogara’s emergence.
The third member is from Katsina State,
President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state.
However, investigations revealed that the
chairmanship of three committees, defence,
education and judiciary, had been decided by the
Selection Committees.

www.punchng.com/news/reps-crisis-over-juicy-committees-worsens/

someone should ask Dogara what season are we on now because I lost count of it or should I go and get more popcorn

I see a lot of backstabbing in the NASS...PDP are in fo a shock!!!....dongara merely used the pdp lawmakers to elevte himself to become speaker...nigerian politicians and self interest...my own is please try and give moguno a good committee to chair..the guy too suffer

I know the crises wouldn't have been; but for the occupation of Saraki. That, my friends is what is meant by unforseen circumstance

Will we ever get past these their problems because of greed?

Awon ole buruku#, they are just there to enrich themselves

all dis lawmakers are jst dia to represent dia personal pocket,dey are less concern abt d well being of d masses so far dia pocket is smilling