Dogara, Oyegun, Gbajabiamila hold talks over committee dispute

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The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has waded into the dispute at the House of Representatives over the sharing of standing committees by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that Odigie-Oyegun had met separately with Dogara and his deputy, Mr. Yusuf Lasun, on one hand, and the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, on the other.

The separate meetings reportedly took place at Odigie-Oyegun’s Abuja home.

“The national chairman met with the speaker and his deputy this morning (Friday) and the discussion centred on the sharing of the standing committees.

“A few days back, he had already met with Gbajabiamila, where the House leader raised the issue of the APC not being adequately catered for in the whole arrangement,” a National Assembly official disclosed to Saturday PUNCH in Abuja.

It was gathered that the primary aim of the meetings was to douse tension ahead of the planned inauguration of the 96 standing committees on Monday next week by Dogara.

“What is not lost is the fact that some APC members feel that the majority party was not fairly represented in the sharing of the committees, particularly the Grade ‘A’ committees.

“But, the point was also made at the meetings that the party would not force the speaker or impose the chairmen of committees on him since the power to appoint committees lies solely with him.

“Again, it was meant to be on record that the party might not support the arrangements much as it could not compel Dogara to reverse anything,” the source added.

When contacted for comments on Friday, the speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, denied knowledge of any meeting between his boss and Odigie-Oyegun.

“I am not aware of any meeting; I can’t tell you anything,” he said.

However, Turaki added that as far as Dogara was concerned, he was done with the issue.

Dogara had on October 22 named the chairmen and deputy chairmen of 96 standing committees of the House.

The speaker allotted 48 of the committees to the APC, while the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party got 45 slots.

Some aggrieved APC members complained that the PDP were given more prime committees than the majority party.

Included in the PDP’s share were the 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 were Committee on Appropriations; Committee on Finance; Committee on Customs/Excise; Committee Defence; Committee on Communications; and Committee on Agricultural Services.

But, some APC members 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 committees they got from the speaker.

To demonstrate their grievances, 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 chairman.

Another member, Mr. Sunday Adepoju, rejected an offer to serve as the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Special Duties; he had claimed that he resigned because the APC was not fairly treated.

The speaker simply replaced the two officials with other lawmakers and went ahead to hold an interactive session with the chairmen on Wednesday.

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.

Source: Punch