29th July, 2023
By Femi Ogunshola
A group of lawmakers have dismissed speculations that the recent announcement of standing committees has led to rancour and disagreement among members of the 10th House of Representatives.
Speaker of House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas announced the standing committees and their leaders on July 27.
But there have been speculations that some lawmakers are not satisfied over the exercise and are plotting against the House leadership over the matter.
However, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, some lawmakers, including the Deputy Chief of Staff to the speaker, Mr Chamberlain Dunkwu, dispelled the rumour.
Ikenga Ugochinyere, the Spokesperson for the group, said the composition was fair, adding that the speaker put the interest of members above personal or pecuniary interest.
He said that the speaker exhibited justice and fairness, adding that all interest groups in the House were satisfied because they saw the composition as being done without any external influence.
According to him, Abbas has started living up to our expectations, so majority of members of the 10th Assembly are commending his leadership style.
He said that the speaker and the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, considered the interest of members in decision making, adding that this was seen in the
composition of principal officers and chairmanship of the standing committees.
He said that the parliament was more united than ever, adding that the standing committee membership cut across different interests including those who contested the speakership with Abbas.
According to him, there is no winner and no vanquished, because most of his challengers in the race were given relevant committee chairmanship positions.
“You can see, the main challenger, Rep Aliyu Betera was given Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Committee, Rep. Sani Jaji was made chairman of Ecological Fund.
“Also, Rep. Miriam Onuhoa was made the chairman of Tetfund, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa was made the Chairman of Petroleum Resources Upstream, Rep. Yusuf Gagdi was made the chairman of Committee on Navy, ” he said.
He added that their frontline supporters were equally considered for committee chairmanship, adding that the composition was a reflection of the unity that existed in the house.
He said the beneficiaries and other members have promised to focus on delivering on the people’s mandate.
”And that is why you can see the unity and oneness in the house, we are now set for the full business of a parliament,” he said.(NAN)