NOTEBOOK: How house of reps caught ‘fire’

The house of representatives on Thursday erupted in a kerfuffle when a member, Balarabe Salame, raised a point of order protesting the refusal of Yakubu Dogara to read a letter from the All Progressives Congress (APC), containing the names of principal officers of the house.

Before the lawmakers resorted to fisticuffs to settle their differences, Okey Jeff Emmanuel, chairman rules and business, called for a closed session to iron out the “explosive issues”. But his call was disregarded, as the lawmakers turned pugilists while the sergeant-at-arms battled to secure the mace unsuccessfully.

The protesting lawmakers suspected to be loyal to Femi Gbajabiamila seized the mace as tempers flew through the roof. Suleman Yusuf Lasun, deputy speaker, was heard saying: “I’m a Yoruba man, I must fight.” ‎However, Gbajabiamila, Leo Ogor and some other ranking members made attempts to call the house to order, but the anarchy continued for at least an hour.

When calm was eventually restored, Dogara pleaded with his colleagues for unity, stating that moving the parliament forward was the duty they owe to Nigerians.

“We have been down this tedious road before so I plead of us, I plead of us honourable members ‎as leaders all hands must be on the deck to enable us achieve the desired unity that we need in other to move this house forward that is the responsibility we owe,” he said.

“As to the issues that led to the fracas today, we will sit down as leaders and resolve whatever the fight we have to ensure that this matter as quickly as possible be resolved and that is what we will do by the grace of God.‎

“To be candid, we have promised so much in the course of our elections and even the very party I belong to, the APC, we have promised change and Nigerians expect us to really talk about those matters, those issues that bother them most, they want to hear us talk about unemployment, poverty. In my region, they want us to address insecurity and as long as this house is divided and not united we cannot achieve that.”

Reacting to the melee, Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura of the APC house caucus, identified the “disregard of the wishes of the majority members of the caucus by the speaker” as the cause of the confusion. He noted that on June 23, a letter was sent to the speaker stating the approval of the APC for the principal officers of the house.

Daura added that ‎the party and its house caucus complied with the Nigerian constitution, the house rules and parliamentary tradition in nominating Gbajabiamila as majority house leader; Alhassan Doguwa, deputy house leader; Mohammed Monguno, chief whip; and Pally Iriase, deputy chief whip.

“‎But to our surprise and in breach of our privilege and rights as contained in the constitution and extant house rules, Mr Speaker refused to read the letter from our party,” he said.

“The speaker and deputy speaker are not party principal officers, but are house of representatives presiding officers and by precedent and practice are expected to provide a fair playing ground for all members while the party principal officers are supposed to be the main advocates for their individual party positions.

“Therefore, Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the house of representatives cannot under extant laws and house rules appoint, choose, select, dictate or even provide guidance on how party principal officers emerge or are elected or selected.

“That responsibility and authority lies with each party and the party’s caucus members in the house.”