•House Leader absent at speaker’s meeting
From Fred Itua and Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
THE feud between Speaker Yakubu Dogara and House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, over the alleged lopsided composition of the various standing committees, assumed a worrisome dimension yesterday.
Gbajabiamila, through his media aide, Mr. Olarewanju Smart, yesterday, circulated a letter, which indicated how the leader expressed his displeasure over the speaker’s refusal to carry principal officers of the House along during compilation of names of the chairmen and deputies of the 96 standing committees.
The announcement of the chairmen of the 96 standing committees was announced a fortnight ago, four months after the inauguration of the Eighth House of Representatives. Since the announcement, aggrieved members loyal to Gbajabiamila have been angry on what they described as lopsided appointment.
The October 20 letter, a copy of which was sent to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie Oyegun, noted that the speaker contravened Order 7, Rule 9 of the House Rules.
However, the speaker’s office has refuted claims in Gbajabiamila’s letter. Media aide to Speaker Dogara, Turaki Hassan maintained that all the principal officers of the House were duly carried along throughout the process leading to the announcement of the chairmen and their deputies.
Meanwhile, the speaker held an emergency meeting with chairmen and deputies of the 96 standing committees, in a move to halt the avalanche of resignations by aggrieved members.
Gbajabiamila was conspicuously absent at the meeting. It was, however, gathered, that during the meeting with the chairmen and deputies, Dogara indicated he stood by the appointments.
He reportedly told the members that the commit- tees would be inaugurated as one on Monday.
Gbajabiamila was conspicuously absent at the meeting.
It was learnt that he was at APC national secretariat for the possible meeting with Oyegun.
Last week, some aggrieved members of the House resigned their chairmanship positions to protest the alleged lop- sided composition of the committees.
The Speaker was in Israel for the yearly pilgrim- age when the incidents happened.