A
rebellion is building up in the House of Representatives against Speaker Yakubu
Dogara,according to multiple sources in the Green Chambers of the National
Assembly.
Dogara’s offence is what many members
perceive as his soft spot for the Presidency.
The Reps claim the Speaker want to
turn the House into a rubber stamp for the executive arm.
They are also angry that constituency
projects are not being implemented by the Executive,and want to know why
about 50-60 per cent of them (members) have not been assigned their official
cars.
Another grievance of the Reps is
alleged lateness in payment of their salaries and allowances.
Dogara ,though shocked by the
development,has launched a counter move to calm frayed nerves.
Majority of the Reps are said to have opted
not to team up with the Senate to move against the Presidency,at least for now.
Investigation revealed that Dogara was
jolted on Wednesday when some members of the House took him up on the
various issues at an Executive Session.
It was learnt that a ranking member from
Kano State led the protest by faulting the House leadership’s alleged romance
with the presidency instead of asserting the independence of the chamber.
The members alleged that their
support for the presidency, especially ailing President Muhammadu Buhari,
was not being reciprocated by the latter.
They also complained about how ministers
had been treating summons by committees with disdain.
They were particularly irked by the
alleged unwillingness of the Executive to implement constituency projects in
the 2016 budget.
Members claimed they went through
hell to get the constituency projects executed.
A top source said: “Since he was
elected, the Speaker has never had the type of revolt he witnessed during the
week from members.
“The matter got to a point that some
members at the plenary on Wednesday refused to stand up in deference to the
Speaker in order to usher him into the chamber.
“Even on Thursday, some members extended
their annoyance to voting during the debate on amendments to the 1999
constitution.”
Another ranking member gave said:
“Some members from the North-West actually led the revolt at the Executive
session. They accused Dogara of ‘leaning so much to the Executive’ such that
the House was being turned into a rubber stamp.
“They gave a long list of
constitutional violations by the Executive which the House ignored
because of Dogara’s rapprochement with President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo.
“They queried why the Minister of Power,
Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola will come out publicly to deride the
House without any sanction. They cited cases of ministers and chief executives
of MDAs not honouring House summons.
“Also, the MDAs, especially
ministers, elect to implement constituency projects based on their whims
and caprices. But they have always forgotten that the budget is a law. Some of
us are tired and frustrated.
“The Speaker has been persuading us to be
patient but we are not delivering dividends of democracy to our constituents.
What we now get is stoning of some members by their constituents.
Another member from the South-South said:
“Well, some of us actually complained bitterly about welfare matters. We are
two years into our tenure and about 50-60 per cent of our members have not been
given official cars.
“The complaint we have been getting borders
on the fact that the Peugeot model cars have been ordered from abroad but yet
to arrive. It is insulting that we have to be lobbying to get official cars
which will be paid for from our entitlements.
“We believe that something was
fundamentally wrong with the award of the contract for the cars by the House
Services Committee.
“There was no communication on what has
really happened. Unfortunately, the leadership has been tolerating the House
Services Committee.”
A member from the North-West said: “It has
not been funny because we get our salaries and allowances late.
“We protested to let the Speaker know that
we are suffering in silence. If the Speaker had not handled it with maturity,
we would have changed all the principal officers.
“ Of what use is backing President Buhari
without meaningful projects in our constituency?
“Many of us preferred the Senate
antagonistic method because it is working for that chamber. This was why we
took on Dogara since the beginning of the week.”
But a principal officer said: “When Dogara
opened up at the session, it was realized by members that he has not been
pocketed by the presidency. His leadership style is that of consultation and
not confrontation. He thinks service delivery to Nigerians should be the
priority of lawmakers and not feud with the Executive.
“The same Speaker said he had engaged the
Acting President on Fashola matter and Prof. Osinbajo directed the Minister to
go and apologize. He obeyed the directive on Friday.
“In the last few months, the Speaker has
been to the Villa to iron out issues amicably between the two arms of
government.”
On the welfare of members, the principal
officer said: “I think it has to do more with the failure of the House Services
Committee than the problem with the Speaker. He was shocked to hear some of the
complaints.”
Findings confirmed that following
assurances from the Speaker, members jettisoned plans to “team up with the
Senate” against the Executive.
“Dogara has sued for calm; we are giving
him benefit of the doubt. He is a good listener but we need action.”
A member from the North-East said: “We have
heard from Dogara and his team.We are awaiting action on their pledges to
address our complaints. We love the Speaker, we have temporarily sheathed the
swords.
“We have all collectively resolved not to
join the Senate to fight the Executive because some of the issues are really
too personal. Some have to do with sheer politics and ambition. We won’t be
part of it.
“But the House leadership has suffered a
jolt, the situation might never be the same henceforth. We love Dogara but we
cannot sacrifice the interest of our constituents.”
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