Gbajabiamila’s group seeks Buhari’s intervention- NASS crisis
The 174 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the House of
Representatives loyal to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on Wednesday night
called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to abide by the party’s
decision on four principal officers.
Gbajabiamila, who was the choice of the (APC) for the post of the Speaker of the House of Representatives had lost election for the seat to Dogara.
Following the loss, APC wants Gbajabiamila to be the House Majority Leader, Alhassan Doguwa as Deputy Leader, Mohammad Monguno as Chief Whip and Pally Iriase as Deputy Chief Whip.
But Dogara and his group, like what played out in the Senate, are not disposed to the position of the party.
A 30-man delegation of the 174 APC members led by Gbajabiamila made their position known to Buhari at a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, which started around 9.45 p.m. on Wednesday and ended late into the night.
Urging Buhari to call to order the 39 APC members, who have teamed up with the Peoples Democratic Party members in the House to undermine APC, the group said that the issue of Federal Character principle being thrown up by Dogara and his loyalists cannot apply to National Assembly as it didn’t apply in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.
“If it must apply now in the 8th National Assembly, the group said that either the Senate President, Bukola Saraki or Dogara must step down as they are both from the North.”
A copy of the group’s presentation to Buhari at the meeting made available to journalists at the end of the meeting reads: “On the 9th of June, 2015, 174 APC members in the House faithfully and loyally followed the directives of the party to vote for Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon Mongunu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker while 39 other APC members colluded with the opposition Party, the PDP, to elect the current Speaker and Deputy Speaker with only 8 votes superiority.
“Whereas the candidates of the majority (Gbajabiamila and Mongunu) openly congratulated the winners and continued to cooperate with the House, the opposition and the 39 APC members continued to hold the APC leadership in contempt.
“Whereas we the 174 Party faithfuls and loyalists had been obedient to the Party, what shall be the reward of our loyalty to the Party?
“The Party has chosen not to punish the 39 APC members including the elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker, but chose to direct, as it is customary and conventional, on how the other four (4) Principal Officers should be distributed. Alas! The opposition and the 39 members continue to hold the ruling Party in contempt by disobeying the Party
“Whereas, the beneficiaries of the disobedience are citing Federal Character Principle as the main reason for their disobedience, His Excellency should note that
“(a) During the 6th Assembly 2007 – 2011, the following Officers were Elected from the NORTH WEST (I) the president and Commander in Chief (ii) Hon. Ismaila Kawu (iii) Hon. Mutawalle. The two (ii) and (iii) occupied 2 out of the 4 principal officers positions of the Minority Party (iv) Hon Aminu Tambuwal was elected Deputy Chief Whip
“(b) Also during the 7th Assembly, the following officers in Government were elected from the NORTH WEST
“(I) The Vice President (II) The Speaker, R Hon Aminu Tambuwal (III) Hon. Ismaila Kawu, Deputy Minority Leader (IV) Hon. Garba Datti, Deputy Minority Whip. In these instances there was never an issue of Federal Character.
“It should be noted that the Federal Character principle as embedded in Chapter of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) IS NOT JUSTICIABLE AND OF NO LEGAL CONSEQUENCE. Its provision in S.14 of the Constitution is only applicable to appointments in Federal Ministries and Agencies. The House of Representatives is not an Agency of the Federal Government and the Principal officers Positions are elective and not by appointment. If the Federal Character is applicable to the National Assembly, then both the Senate President and the Speaker cannot come from the North, one of them should be advised to step down.”
The two- page presentation continued: “It is noteworthy that Mr. President and the Governors had strongly put their weight behind the Party and had severally admonished the House to abide by the Party position. The 39 APC members in the House continued to collude with the PDP to flagrantly disobey Mr. President, the Governors and the Party with a view to bringing the Party and Government to ridicule before Nigerians.
“The conduct of the 39 APC members colluding with the PDP is tantamount to affront, ultimately targeted at polarizing our Party so as to give room for many of them to decamp to the PDP.
“It is therefore imperative for Mr. President to take a stand and save the integrity of the Party, by calling to order, the 39 members, which include the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, to respect, honour and obey our Party Leaders and their directives.
“In conclusion, Mr. President, we as loyal Party members shall continue to abide by the Party and our Party Leaders and their directives. We strongly appeal to you to direct the Speaker to return to our fold and be truly elected Speaker on APC platform. He should be directed to announce the other four Party Principal officers positions as directed by the Party as it has always been the convention.
“We sincerely appreciate Mr. President for the audience trusting in his ability to successfully mediate so as to save our great Party, the APC, from further embarrassment.” It concluded
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Gbajabiamila said that the meeting was a very successful one and that the caucus and the party will come out bigger and stronger.
According to him, Buhari, who is a party man, is committed to party supremacy.
On what Buhari’s response to the group was, he said: “We all know that the President is a party man. He believes in the party supremacy. He believes in the ideology of the party and he believes that the party will move forward. That is how much I can tell you. That is not new, we all know the President.”
Asked why the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, did not attend the meeting if it was a caucus meeting, he said: “The Speaker probably had other engagement and there were other caucus members that were not here. We are a representative of the caucus.
He said that the meeting was not about himself or any individual but for the party.
“It is not about me. We need to get that very straight. They voted with me, but the idea is about the party, they supported the party, the party position and the party line. It is not about any individual. Nobody came here as an independent candidate.” He stated
Gbajabiamila, who was the choice of the (APC) for the post of the Speaker of the House of Representatives had lost election for the seat to Dogara.
Following the loss, APC wants Gbajabiamila to be the House Majority Leader, Alhassan Doguwa as Deputy Leader, Mohammad Monguno as Chief Whip and Pally Iriase as Deputy Chief Whip.
But Dogara and his group, like what played out in the Senate, are not disposed to the position of the party.
A 30-man delegation of the 174 APC members led by Gbajabiamila made their position known to Buhari at a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, which started around 9.45 p.m. on Wednesday and ended late into the night.
Urging Buhari to call to order the 39 APC members, who have teamed up with the Peoples Democratic Party members in the House to undermine APC, the group said that the issue of Federal Character principle being thrown up by Dogara and his loyalists cannot apply to National Assembly as it didn’t apply in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.
“If it must apply now in the 8th National Assembly, the group said that either the Senate President, Bukola Saraki or Dogara must step down as they are both from the North.”
A copy of the group’s presentation to Buhari at the meeting made available to journalists at the end of the meeting reads: “On the 9th of June, 2015, 174 APC members in the House faithfully and loyally followed the directives of the party to vote for Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon Mongunu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker while 39 other APC members colluded with the opposition Party, the PDP, to elect the current Speaker and Deputy Speaker with only 8 votes superiority.
“Whereas the candidates of the majority (Gbajabiamila and Mongunu) openly congratulated the winners and continued to cooperate with the House, the opposition and the 39 APC members continued to hold the APC leadership in contempt.
“Whereas we the 174 Party faithfuls and loyalists had been obedient to the Party, what shall be the reward of our loyalty to the Party?
“The Party has chosen not to punish the 39 APC members including the elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker, but chose to direct, as it is customary and conventional, on how the other four (4) Principal Officers should be distributed. Alas! The opposition and the 39 members continue to hold the ruling Party in contempt by disobeying the Party
“Whereas, the beneficiaries of the disobedience are citing Federal Character Principle as the main reason for their disobedience, His Excellency should note that
“(a) During the 6th Assembly 2007 – 2011, the following Officers were Elected from the NORTH WEST (I) the president and Commander in Chief (ii) Hon. Ismaila Kawu (iii) Hon. Mutawalle. The two (ii) and (iii) occupied 2 out of the 4 principal officers positions of the Minority Party (iv) Hon Aminu Tambuwal was elected Deputy Chief Whip
“(b) Also during the 7th Assembly, the following officers in Government were elected from the NORTH WEST
“(I) The Vice President (II) The Speaker, R Hon Aminu Tambuwal (III) Hon. Ismaila Kawu, Deputy Minority Leader (IV) Hon. Garba Datti, Deputy Minority Whip. In these instances there was never an issue of Federal Character.
“It should be noted that the Federal Character principle as embedded in Chapter of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) IS NOT JUSTICIABLE AND OF NO LEGAL CONSEQUENCE. Its provision in S.14 of the Constitution is only applicable to appointments in Federal Ministries and Agencies. The House of Representatives is not an Agency of the Federal Government and the Principal officers Positions are elective and not by appointment. If the Federal Character is applicable to the National Assembly, then both the Senate President and the Speaker cannot come from the North, one of them should be advised to step down.”
The two- page presentation continued: “It is noteworthy that Mr. President and the Governors had strongly put their weight behind the Party and had severally admonished the House to abide by the Party position. The 39 APC members in the House continued to collude with the PDP to flagrantly disobey Mr. President, the Governors and the Party with a view to bringing the Party and Government to ridicule before Nigerians.
“The conduct of the 39 APC members colluding with the PDP is tantamount to affront, ultimately targeted at polarizing our Party so as to give room for many of them to decamp to the PDP.
“It is therefore imperative for Mr. President to take a stand and save the integrity of the Party, by calling to order, the 39 members, which include the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, to respect, honour and obey our Party Leaders and their directives.
“In conclusion, Mr. President, we as loyal Party members shall continue to abide by the Party and our Party Leaders and their directives. We strongly appeal to you to direct the Speaker to return to our fold and be truly elected Speaker on APC platform. He should be directed to announce the other four Party Principal officers positions as directed by the Party as it has always been the convention.
“We sincerely appreciate Mr. President for the audience trusting in his ability to successfully mediate so as to save our great Party, the APC, from further embarrassment.” It concluded
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Gbajabiamila said that the meeting was a very successful one and that the caucus and the party will come out bigger and stronger.
According to him, Buhari, who is a party man, is committed to party supremacy.
On what Buhari’s response to the group was, he said: “We all know that the President is a party man. He believes in the party supremacy. He believes in the ideology of the party and he believes that the party will move forward. That is how much I can tell you. That is not new, we all know the President.”
Asked why the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, did not attend the meeting if it was a caucus meeting, he said: “The Speaker probably had other engagement and there were other caucus members that were not here. We are a representative of the caucus.
He said that the meeting was not about himself or any individual but for the party.
“It is not about me. We need to get that very straight. They voted with me, but the idea is about the party, they supported the party, the party position and the party line. It is not about any individual. Nobody came here as an independent candidate.” He stated
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