Dogara Announces Standing Committee Chairmen, Deputies...
Power brokers clinch Grade A c’ttees, Onyejeocha, Ukeje, others retain posts Members grumble as PDP clinches key panels
More than four months after the inauguration of the House of Representatives of the Eighth Assembly and prolonged lobbying, Speaker Yakubu Dogara finally announced the chairmen and deputy chairmen of the 96 standing committees of the House.
Expectedly, key supporters of the speaker during the leadership tussle in the early weeks of the House were able to clinch chairmanship posts regarded as Grade A committees.
For instance, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumini who was the spokesperson for the speaker’s Consolidation Group during the tussle, was announced chairman of the Committee on Appropriation.
Other visible members of the group who secured key committees were Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (Aviation), Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje (Foreign Affairs), Hon. Kingsley Chinda (Public Accounts), Hon. Muktar Aliyu (Defence), Hon. Tobi Okechukwu (Works) Hon. Herman Hembe (FCT), Hon. Babangida Ibrahim (Finance) and Hon. Zakari Mohammed (Basic Education and Services).
Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas will head the Committee on Media and Publicity, while Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki will chair the Committee on Navy.
Also, members of the Loyalist Group of the Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who clinched key committees were Hon. Akinlaja Joseph (Petroleum Resources- Downstream), Hon. James Faleke (Customs and Excise) and Hon. Saheed Fijabi (Telecommunications).
Hon. Sani Zorro was made chairman of the newly formed Committee on IDPs, Refugees and Initiatives in North East.
At least seven members retained the chairmanship of the committees they headed in the Seventh Assembly. They are Onyejeocha, Ukeje, Hon. Sulaimon Aminu (Education), Hon. Jones Onyeriri (Banking and Currency), Hon. Shehu Shagari (Judiciary), Hon. Nicholas Mutu (NDDC) and Hon. Mohammed Monguno (Agriculture).
The speaker did not announce a chair for the 97th committee – Niger Delta Affairs – but in a copy of the list obtained by THISDAY, the name of Hon. Essien Ekpeyong Ayi (Cross River PDP) was crossed out, while Hon. Nasiru Ali Ahmed (Kano APC) was announced as deputy.
However, some grumbling accompanied the announcement of the chairmen and deputy chairmen of the standing committees, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured 46 out of the 96 committees announced, representing 48 per cent of the total number.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) clinched 48 position, representing 50 per cent while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) got one each.
PDP members also secured key sectors expected to drive the federal government’s change agenda such as Petroleum Upstream (Hon. Victor Nwokolo- Delta), Petroleum Downstream (Hon. Akinlaja Joseph-Ondo), Aviation (Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha-Abia), Banking (Hon. Jones Onyeriri- Imo), Foreign Affairs (Hon. Nnnena Ukeje- Abia) and Power (Hon. Tobi Okechukwu- Enugu).
Others are Environment (Hon. Obinna ChidokaAnambra), Gas Resources (Hon.Agbedi FrederickBayelsa), Information Technology (Hon. Ogoshi Onawo-Nasarawa) and Labour (Hon. Ezenwa Francis-Imo).
Reacting, a lawmaker told THISDAY that Dogara gave so much power to the opposition.
“In the last House, out of the 84 committees, the opposition, which was the APC then, chaired only 16. This is unbelievable. We agree, that the speaker was trying to be fair, but this is clear that he probably promised the PDP members juicy committees to elect him,” the lawmaker said.
“This has given so much power to the opposition. It has never happened in the history of the House, ever,” another lawmaker lamented.
THISDAY also gathered that some members are already considering rejecting the committees they were given because they considered Grade C committees.
A lawmaker however dismissed the claim, saying: “There is no way everyone can be satisfied. Even the deputy speaker has just about two or three members as chairmen. We just have to put this behind us and move on with legislative business.”