Failure to be guided by wise reasoning I foresee commotion on the floor of the House come 20th September, 2016. That’s barely nine days away from today, when the 360 members of the House of Representatives reconvene from the annual recess. Some of them including notable members of the Body of Principal Officers would have returned from the overseas tour where they spent their holidays, to refresh and strategize as well as relief themselves of all the naughty news trending on the alleged padding of the 2016 Appropriations Act.
No doubts, those at the helms of affairs in the House have to be guided in managing the prevailing situation triggered by the indicting petitions sent to various security agencies and anti-corruption agencies as well as the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption chaired by Itse Sagay, otherwise, the crisis may be unprecedented.
While some lawmakers loyal to the leadership of the House may wish to slam suspension on the ousted chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, for the role played in the lingering crisis and insistence on the removal of the Speaker, others who believe in equity may resist any move to achieve their aims. I foresee another crisis coming from aggrieved lawmakers who dragged the Speaker and Clerk of the national Assembly (CNA) to Court over the provisions of the new Standing Order. For sure, one of the lawmakers will attempt to snatch the Mace in order to achieve their bidding.
This provocative attempt will no doubt prompt reaction of those loyal to the leadership of the House to suspend any erring lawmaker by attempting to invoke the provision of the contentious House Rules.
Recall that 11 aggrieved members led by Aliyu Madaki (APC, Kano) had filed a suit by the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ahmed Bello Mahmud, seeking 12 reliefs from the court, among which is a declaration that the new House Standing Orders is null and unconstitutional. The new House Rule
which was adopted on October 8, 2015 empowered the Speaker to suspend any member that approaches the mace, the symbol of authority in the
House, with whatever intent. The Standing Orders also provide that the Speaker can suspend any member of the House for 30 plenary days for
failing to obey the presiding officer’s directive for such a lawmaker to assume his seat during plenary sessions.
The lawmakers namely Mohammed Musa Soba (Kaduna); Yusuf Bala Ikara (Kaduna); Abubakar Lado Suleja (Niger), Lawal Yahaya Gumau (Bauchi); Rotimi Agunsoye (Lagos); Aminu Ibrahim Malle (Taraba); Sunday Adepoju (Oyo); Ahmed Babba Kaita (Katsina); Philip Shuaibu (Edo) and Abubakar Chika Adamu (Niger).
They prayed the court to declare as “repressive, susceptible to abuse and breaches” of their constitutional rights the powers granted Dogara
to present any proposal for the suspension of any member. They also prayed the Court to restrain Dogara, the House or any of its agents from exercising “the purported amendments” vested on them in the new rules pending the determination of the matter. For this and many reasons, the Speaker must be guided to operate within the ambit of the
law and hold tenaciously to the Rule of law in the discharge of his responsibility under these circumstances. The agitation which I describe as herculean for the anti-leadership lawmakers, will surely be rebuffed by overwhelming members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition party members, who got larger chunk of the standing Committees and their allies, this I know.
Going forward, several standing committees are expected to swing into action if the current leadership of the House is able to douse and manage the crisis. Hundreds of bills are awaiting second reading. Of importance is the Petroleum Industry Bill. Likewise various Executive
bills which have been gazetted should be given priority without further delay. So much is also expected from the Adhoc Committee on
Constitutional amendment chaired by the Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun.
While wishing the lawmakers success in the new legislative year, it is of necessity to admonish them to put the interest of the nation first and above self.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA
