Intrigues delay raising of Reps panels

[TGD]

 AFTER six weeks of its inauguration, the Aminu Tambuwal-led House of Representatives is still grappling with the task of constituting its committees. High-level political intrigues have become a feature of the daily activities of the House.

Just two days after the inauguration of the House, Tambuwal announced the constitution of a revised selection committee, which now has its members drawn from each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. It is headed by the Speaker and his deputy.

Tension has been on the rise. The Guardian learnt that members were particularly unhappy about the delay because of the effect it would have on the legislative efficiency and competence of the House.

A lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity stated: "What some of us are saying is that as we keep delaying the process of constituting committees, the overall legislative work of the House will suffer at the end of the day. When the committees are eventually constituted, they will need another long period of time to acquaint themselves with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). That will add to the time wasted. It was the expectation of many of us that this exercise would be concluded before the end of year recess but that did not happen."

It has been gathered that some members considered as prominent lawmakers have already been told the committees they are likely to head.

Most contentious of all the committees is the Appropriation   Committee, which many have been struggling to get.

Among the contending lawmakers for the chairmanship of this committee are John Enoh (PDP, Cross River State), and Isah Hashiru (PDP, Kaduna State)

Enoh was the chairman of the House Committee on Finance in the sixth House while Hashiru was the Vice Chairman of the Appropriation Committee.

Among the members of the selection committee, there is a sharp division as to who among the two is to get the plum committee job.

Although Enoh was part of the caucus that worked very hard for the emergence of Tambuwal as Speaker, the tradition of the House that the chairman of the Appropriation Committee must come from the region or zone that produced the Speaker does not favour him at the moment.

But Hashiru who is also a pro-Tambuwal man and a lawmaker from the North West, is highly favoured by this tradition. It will take a serious breakaway from the tradition to make Enoh the chairman of the Appropriation Committee.

Also, the former chairman of the House Committee on Education, Farouk Lawal, has been asked to retain his position following his inability to get the chairmanship of the Appropriation Committee, which he was said to have been fighting for.

However as tension mounted over the delay, many lawmakers including members of the committee have come up with reasons for the delay.

Representative Akpan Umoh (PDP, Akwa Ibom State) who is a member of the selection committee, said the commitment to the principles of fairness by the House leadership and the selection committee was part of the issues that was causing the delay.

According to him, the selection committee was taking its time to produce a committee system that respects the rule of competence, area of specialisation of members, fairness, geographical spread and other variables in the House of Representatives.

Umoh said that the essence of having each state represented on the selection committee was to make sure that extensive consultation was carried out before placing any member on any committee.

Another lawmaker, Representative Yusuf Tajudeen (PDP, Kogi State) attributed the delay to the initial challenges faced by the lower chamber particularly the rancour and infighting that characterised the sixth House.

Tajudeen said that members had advised the House leadership to take its time to conduct detailed research regarding the background of every member before placing him on any committee.

The lawmaker stated that the exercise of constituting the committees had reached 80 per cent completion, pointing out that almost every member had been informed about the committee that he or she belonged to.

"What remained at the moment is the chairmen of the committees. I believe that by the time we resume from the recess, the Speaker will just announce the names of the committee chairmen because the list is almost complete," Tajudeen said.

The lawmaker also hinted that part of the problem was the fact that over 70 per cent of the present members of the House were fresh legislators who had no previous legislative experience.

He said the leadership had to take more time knowing more about those members and their disciplines before naming the committees.

The delay in constituting the leadership of the House according to Tajudeen was another major factor because there was the need for every principal officer to make input into the process that will lead to the emergence of the committees.

Meanwhile, the House still has the election of its majority leader to contend with. Although no official statement has been issued about the delay in electing the House leader, it has been discovered that Tambuwal and his deputy, Emeka Ihedioha, have been under pressure by other members of the House to dump whoever is preferred by the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to occupy the number three position in the House.

A ranking member told The Guardian on condition of anonymity: "Members want the House to stick to the policy of independence and separation of powers in appointing or electing all its principal officers and committees. But the reality is that no arm of government is totally independent of the other. The policy of interdependence should be encouraged. This is why the Speaker has been trying to persuade members to accept the candidate of the party who is also supported by the Presidency to occupy the position of majority leader. Again because of the circumstances in which the Speaker was elected, it may be difficult for the House to continue to insist on its own choice all the time."



The Guardian