Joint Task Of The 10th Assembly Divided Over Juicy Committees

Members of the House of Representatives who pushed for the election of Honorable Tajudeen Abbas and Honorable Benjamin Kalu to the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively, are reportedly disunited in the Joint Task of the 10th Assembly over juicy committees.

A report of the Leadership Newspaper claimed that the once cohesive Joint Task is breaking apart due to competition for membership on juicy committees and leadership posts.

A group of lawmakers from all political parties, both incumbent and recently elected, who gained seats in the House, founded the Joint Task of the 10th Assembly on April 12.

The coalition’s initial membership consisted of 283 newly elected lawmakers from the APC, PDP, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Social Democratic Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, and Young Progressive Party.

Barely a month after the establishment of the group, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nominations of Abbas and Kalu to serve as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, respectively, received the support of the APC National Working Committee (NWC).

“The National Working Committee of the APC met today, Monday, May 8, 2023, to consider reports of consultations and meetings held with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, other Party leaders, and stakeholders on zoning arrangement for 10th National Assembly leadership positions,” a source told the Leadership Newspaper.

“The NWC noted with respect the outcome of the meetings held between the President-elect and the leadership of the NWC. The NWC called for further and better consultation with necessary stakeholders to assure the support of the aspirants to the National Assembly leadership positions and members of the Party nationwide.

“The zoning arrangement reported to the NWC is as follows: Speaker, House of Representatives North West Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna) Deputy Speaker, South East- Ben Kalu (Abia)

“We urge our party leaders, members, and all Nigerians to continue to work for peace and progress of our country during and beyond the current period of leadership transition.”

The Juicy Committees

The Joint Task of the 10th Assembly, headed by Usman Bello Kumo and Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, organized the Abbas/Kalu campaign as promised, and as a result, they were victorious on June 13 at the opening of the 10th Assembly.

Sharing the spoils of a political victory in the legislature takes place thereafter, but the House of Representatives is growing increasingly angry about committees that are thought to be “juicy.”

Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government are managed by “juicy committees,” which have large budgets and influence in Nigerian legislative circles.

Some of the more interesting committees include Appropriations, Finance, Defence, Army, Navy, and Air Force; Police Affairs; National Security and Intelligence; Customs and Excise; Ports and Harbours; NIMASA; Banking and Currency; Health; Education; Agriculture; Ecological Funds; and Public Accounts.

Abbas was the first opposition lawmaker to receive the Public Accounts Committee under the requirements of the constitution. Usually, it is only given to those who support the Speaker and those who are part of the present ruling party, the APC.

Speaker Abbas designated himself and Kalu as the chairman and deputy chairman of special committees before the House’s holiday from June 15 to July.

Committees Delegations

Each federation state’s caucus and the FCT had to select a delegate to sit on the committee in charge of creating standing committees and selecting their leaders.

The then-Speaker of the 9th Assembly, Femi Gbajabiamila, established 105 committees to please his followers.

80 of the supposedly most significant and lucrative panels were controlled by APC members, even though opposition politicians were nominated to oversee 25 of them.

Supporters of the Joint Task disagree over who gets what because the current Speaker will reveal committees, their chairs, and their membership as soon as the House reconvenes the following week.

The Joint Task is in a difficult position because it is alleged that both junior and senior members of the ruling party and the opposition insist that they should have an equal say in who becomes speaker and that committee leadership and membership should be equally allocated.

“The center seems not to be held since the election of Mr. Speaker and Deputy. We just hope that things do not far apart amongst members of the Joint Task. The struggle for Committee membership and chairmanship is almost tearing us apart”, the source who is a lawmaker said.

“Normally, ranking members, especially from the ruling party which in this case, is the APC are given critical Committees but in our case, lawmakers who are both new and in the opposition want not just inclusion but to lead those critical Committees.

“They argue that they equally played a significant role in the emergence of the principal officers and they should be given fair share, irrespective of ranking and party affiliation”.

The core of the battle

The Joint Task is not progressing well, according to a prominent APC member, since the new lawmakers are not being patient enough to let their returning colleagues oversee significant committees while they are just made members or, at most, deputies.

Surprisingly, the politician who requested anonymity asserted that opposition party members, particularly those from relatively tiny parties like the LP and NNPP, among others, are vying for leadership posts in committees that are solely accessible to the ruling party, the APC.

Another legislator, who was new to both the House and the opposition, said that committee positions were given out arbitrarily by members of the ruling and ranking parties.

The opposition member who requested anonymity claimed that the recently elected representatives from the minority parties are unhappy with the circumstances and have been drawing the Speaker’s attention to them after almost agreeing to back him.

It was also learned that Aliyu Betara, who quit in favor of Abbas, had been trying to give James Faleke, a President Tinubu supporter, the position of chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Investigations indicated that Honourable Usman Bello Kumo, the co-chairman of Joint Task, was resolved to take the third seat in the House just as his counterpart, Honourable Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, was selected as Minority Leader, whereas Honourable Muktar Aliyu Betara considering running for House Leader to free up a seat for Faleke.

“How can there be harmony in Joint Task – 10th Assembly when APC members and lawmakers who have been here before want to take everything for themselves? They are not being sensitive to us at all despite our commitment by keying into the ruling party’s anointed candidates”, the source said.

“You know the intrigues leading to the inauguration and election of principal officers of the 10th House. We contributed immensely. Remember the minority parties put together, have more numbers than the APC. Also, note that 75% of the members of this House are new lawmakers. So whichever way one looks at it, we have an equal stake. We should be given our fair share promised before we all support the Abbas/Kalu ticket”.