Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and Speaker, Yakugu Dogara
According to earlier reports, both leaders were said to have been at loggerheads over the recent composition of the house committees.
Dogara named the chairmen and deputy chairmen of 96 standing committees of the House on Thursday, October 22.
Forty-eight members of the APC were picked as chairmen, while 46 members of the PDP were picked. For the position of deputy chairman 54 APC members were picked, while the PDP had 38.
Gbajabiamila had said that Dogara did not consult him prior to the announcement of the chairmen of the standing committees.
Already, two APC lawmakers have rejected their appointment in the week as a form of protest against Dogara’s decision.
They are the former deputy House minority whip, Garba Dhatti-Muhammad, and a member from Oyo state, Sunday Adepoju.
Dhatti-Muhammad was named the chairman of the House Committee on solid minerals development, while Adepoju was chosen as the deputy chairman of the committee on special duties.
On Tuesday, November 3, Dogara met the chairmen and deputies of House standing committees. The meeting which was at the instance of the speaker was meant to appeal to those that were planning to resign their positions to drop the action as they were told “committee appointment is for service and not pecuniary considerations”.
Gaza who briefed journalists at the end of plenary yesterday, November 5, said there was no truth in the rumours, adding that there was no such basis because long before the list was released, there were consultations and everyone was carried along.
“There is no conflict, the House remains one,” Gaza said.
Meanwhile, a member of the House, Ahmed Kaita, has said that the “change”agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari could be sabotaged by the alleged lopsidedness of the composition of house committees.
In a related development, some members of the All Progressives Congress in the House has asked Dogara to retrieve the oil and gas sector committee from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The members, who were aggrieved over the decision of Dogara to give the PDP committees regarded as ”juicy”, expressed disgust at the speaker’s action.