How Dogara is planning with PDP to weaken APC

Criticisms have trailed the announcement of the headships of special and standing committees of the House of Representatives by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, last week.

On Thursday, Mr. Dogara unveiled the leaderships of 96 committees, giving 48 chairmanship positions to his party, All Progressives Congress, APC, 46 to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the remaining two to Social Democratic Party and All Progressive Grand Alliance.

PREMIUM TIMES findings revealed dissatisfaction among members of the APC, especially those loyal to the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.

They maintained that the composition of the headships of the committees was skewed in favour of PDP members, whose support helped Mr. Dogara become Speaker against Mr. Gbajabiamila, who was supported by the party.

They said many of the key committees, otherwise called “juicy committees”, were clinched by PDP members.

Those committees include committees Foreign Affairs, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje (Abia State); Petroleum Resources (downstream) Joseph Akinlaja (Ondo State); Petroleum Resources (upstream), Victor Nwokolo (Delta State); Works, Tobi Okechukwu (Enugu State); Power, Daniel Effiong (Cross River State).

Also Committees on Army, Navy, Air Force, Ports, Harbours and Waterways, went to the PDP quartet of Rima Kwewum (Taraba), Samson Okwu (Benue State), Abdussamad Dasuki (Sokoto State) and Patrick Asada (Enugu State) respectively.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt the APC members in the Gbajabiamila camp were not only aggrieved about the alleged lop-sidedness that favours the PDP, but also the way Mr. Dogara allegedly favoured his loyalists within the APC caucus.

For instance, the lawmakers said Mr. Dogara’s top men in the APC like Abdulmumin Jibrin (Kano), Mohammed Zakari (Kwara), Babangida Ibrahim (Katsina), Nasiru Babale (Kano) and Herman Hembe (Benue) clinched such key committees as Appropriations, Basic Education Services, Finance, House Services and Federal Capital Territory respectively.

On the other hand, a source in the Gbajabiamila camp who asked not to be named told this newspaper that only nine chairmanship positions – out of 48 given to APC – were given to members of the group.

And of the nine committees given to the group, “only two are considered juicy”, which are the Committee on Customs and Excise and Agricultural Production and Services given to James Faleke (Lagos) and Mohammed Monguno (Borno).

Others given to the Gbajabiamila group are committees on Aids and Loans, Adeyinka Ajayi (Osun); Anti-Corruption, jide Akinloye (Lagos); Civil Society, Peter Akpatason (Edo); Financial Crimes, Kayode Oladele (Ogun); Internally Displaced Persons, Sani Zoro (Jigawa); Insurance, Olufemi Fakeye (Osun); Special Duties, Nasiru Daura (Katsina) and Treaties and Protocols (Yakub Balogun).

Our source in the Gbajabiamila camp, however, said Mr. Faleke’s committee headship was mere “smokescreen because they know Faleke would not use the seat”.

Mr. Faleke is the running-mate of Kogi APC gubernatorial candidate, Audu Abubakar, in the forthcoming Kogi governorship election.

A member, Babban Kaita (Katsina State), told PREMIUM TIMES that the skewed committee headships may affect the smooth-running of the Buhari administration.

“Let’s bring Gbajabiamila group out of this; this is about the difficulty that the APC government of President Buhari will face because of this composition.

“It has never been this bad. Dogara has short-changed his own party, APC, in favour of the PDP. But we are not surprised because that was the agreement they had before he became Speaker. All the critical committees that will play a role in the change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari have been given to the PDP.

“Petroleum, Upstream and Downstream, Power, Works, Foreign Affairs; these are areas Mr. President would want to turn around in the country but they are conceded to the PDP,” he revealed.

He further said Mr. Dogara disregarded House rules in the constitution of the committees.

“The composition should be made in consultation with the Principal Officers but none of them was invited. Even Femi Gbajabiamila, the Majority Leader, got to know about it the very day it was going to be announced,” he stated.

He added that PDP members holding the “critical committees” may sabotage Mr. Buhari and his ministers, especially when the opposition had made a rallying charge to its members “to rise against Buhari”.

Another APC lawmaker from North West who chose to not to be named said, “number one is that Dogara is giving everything to PDP. This is in preparation for 2019. His effort is to revive PDP in 2019 in collaboration with Saraki.”

However, there is also discomfort among some PDP members, especially the Ekiti State caucus.
“Ekiti people have spoken; we are not very happy with the outcome,” Thaddeous Aina, said on behalf of his colleagues from Ekiti State.

“We are six in number and they gave us just one slot. It is ratio 1:6. Although we have not seen the entire composition; notwithstanding, morning shows the day,” he said.

Another PDP lawmaker from South West who sought anonymity said the zone was “not properly considered in what they did.”

“If you look at it, what came to PDP mostly went to South South and South East.

“Well, I am not authorized to speak for the Speaker. But let me say that South West should not complain because they already have Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader,” a PDP lawmaker from South East said.