Reps opposition calls for change of minority leadership over N19bn scandal

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Discontent is brewing among opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives, fueled by perceived compromises by the minority leadership in the 10th Assembly.

Some critical opposition lawmakers in the Green chamber who spoke on condition of anonymity are accusing their leaders of being overly cozy with the All Progressives Congress (APC) government, rendering them ineffective in holding the ruling party accountable for pressing issues like crippling hardship, rampant insecurity, and widespread corruption.

They argued that the reluctance of the leadership of opposition lawmakers to speak out has eroded trust in the opposition’s ability to provide robust oversight.

They attribute the minority leadership’s disturbing silence on the people’s plight to financial inducements from the APC-led House leadership, allegedly through unequal distribution of funds and misappropriated funds in the budget, including vague ‘zonal intervention projects’ and other opaque initiatives used for political patronage by the National Assembly leadership. It is said that the leadership of the both arms of the National Assembly appropriate hundreds of billions to themselves in the budget in the name of phantom zonal projects.

A recent viral video in the social media where the Deputy Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. George Ozodinobi, was boasting about the N19b he ‘has’ in the current budget cast light to this trend and further infuriated other lawmakers who are not part of the leadership of the House.

This insensitive disclosure was made at the Iwa-Iji ( New yam festival) ceremony of the Igwe of Nimo, Anambra State, where the Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi, who is planning to run for Senate made the above disclosure.

It’s even more ironical that Hon. Ozodinobi is not only representing the Labour Party, but also is the representative of Mr. Peter Obi’s Federal Constituency. Obi is the National leader of LP and its presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections. Obi is known to be an advocate for transparency in governance.

Statutorily, each of the 360 federal constituencies are only entitled to capital projects and zonal intervention projects not exceeding N1billion in the current budget, so many are bewildered that if Hon. Ozodinobi who is the least in the 10-man Leadership of the House could input 19B, then it could only be imagined what the others got.

Following the viral video’s release, disgruntled members, already frustrated over unpaid contractors, have intensified calls for a change in leadership, particularly within the Minority Leadership of the House. They accuse the leadership of colluding with the ruling APC, citing a lack of advocacy for opposition interests. “Can you name one policy issue the minority caucus, led by Kingsley Chinda, a known Nyesom Wike ally, has championed on the House floor?” an angry opposition lawmaker fumed.

Continuing, the lawmaker stated that since it was an APC government, it is the opposition caucuses in the Parliament that should hold them to account, but that he said, was not happening because of obvious pecuniary interests.

Given the apparent level of compromise and collusion with the ruling party, opposition lawmakers question the ability of the current minority leaders to provide effective oversight and hold the government accountable, casting doubt on their commitment to genuine opposition objectives and the interests of the people.