Spokesman of the 9th House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has given reasons why some chairpersons heading committees under the Speakership of Femi Gbajabiamila, may lose their positions.
This is even as he addressed the issue of Distribution of Chairmanship and Deputy Chairmanship positions among States and Geo-political Zones in the green chamber.
Hon. Kalu noted that the 8th House of Representatives under the Speakership of Yakubu Dogara had 96 Standing Committees out of which 48 chairmanship positions went to the ruling APC while 46 chairmanship positions went to the PDP, 1 to APGA and 1 to SDP. 54 deputy chairmanship positions went to the ruling APC, while PDP had 38 and 4 to other parties. While every State got at least 1 Chairmanship position, there are States that got up 6 (Kano State got up to 6 Chairmanship positions.
Subsequently, the 9th House of Representatives under the Speakership of Femi Gbajabiamila has 105 Standing Committees. According to him, this is the first time Kano State alone got 12 chairmanship positions while some states like Rivers and Bayelsa did not get any chairmanship position.
Speaking further, the House of Reps Spokesman noted that the House has been fair to the six geo-political zones; each zone was adequately represented in terms of influential committees.
Hon. Kalu, also made it clear that the insinuation casually tossed around that the North got more appointments only serves to cause discord. “Remember that all 20 states of the North alone have a total of 191 members as opposed to 169 for the rest of Nigeria”, Kalu added.
Read below his full statement on Distribution of Chairmanship and why some chairpersons may lose their positions.
He said;
“There are 109 standing committees in the House and 360 members. Because it is impossible for every one of 360 members to get Chairmanship of a committee, the position of Deputy was also factored in to compensate some legislators. In fact, many members opted out of Chairmanship positions to accept deputy chairmanship of certain committees overseeing major ministries, reason being that the deputy chairman of certain committees is stronger than the chairman.
“On the question of dissatisfied law makers across party lines, recall that the 4th Republic started with less than 65 committees for a house of 360 members. Former Speaker Tambuwal increased it to 91, Former Speaker Dogara to 96 and the current Speaker increased it to 105 committees. In all of this, the House has been fair to the six geo-political zones; each zone was adequately represented in terms of influential committees. The insinuation casually tossed around that the North got more appointments only serves to cause discord. Remember that all 20 states of the North alone have a total of 191 members as opposed to 169 for the rest of Nigeria.
“It is therefore incorrect to suggest that the House has not carried everyone along. It is also incorrect to suggest that speakership aspirants did not get any appointment or leadership positions in this House. Hon. Bago is Chairman of House Committee on Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Hon. Onyejiocha is a principal officer, Hon. Buba is Chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Hon. Betara is Chairman of Appropriations Committee.
“But above all, we must remember that the Speaker’s main concern is for the various committees and their leaderships to function efficiently. The new agenda of the Joint Task is to ensure that, unlike in previous assemblies where committee chairs were tempted to act arbitrarily, in this assembly, the deputy chairmen are as important as chairmen and must be carried along fully because series of verifiable complaints will lead to a change of the chairman involved.
“Some chairmen may not finish their tenure where the leadership discovers incompetence in the management of the committee, or that the committee is not carried along in major decision mechanisms or where the committee leadership goes against the ethics and rules of the House of Reps.
“The idea is that it is no longer jamboree or business as usual. As a chairman you must perform and reflect the agenda of the leadership of the 9th Assembly and the expectation of Nigerians or you become a member and others will take over.
“You will recall that a monitoring mechanism was announced by the Speaker right from the time of his campaign to the effect that every member and committee will be monitored to ensure they are meeting expectations. The media committee will have an eye on all the activities of every committee to enable us report back to the house and the public in due time. In this assembly, the media committee will do more of activity monitoring and reporting in good time as opposed to damage control for any committee leadership or members. The leadership insists on efficiency now that the appointments have been concluded no more business as usual the House is finalising on the monitoring mechanism to help deliver on both the oversight functions of committees and the constituency presence of members with regards to the Zonal intervention programs as well as the SIP.
“The truth is that many members avoided the chairmanship position because of the new demands of the offices under the leadership of Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamilla, who expects the annual committee reports to be collated quarterly and concluded at the end of the year to enable the public have easy access to it . So you see it is no more business as usual , the office of the chairman is now very demanding and the expectation is high on each of them to add value towards achieving the over all legislative agenda of the 9th Assembly under the Speaker.
