THE leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly and that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been engaged in a battle of wits over the election of the principal officers of the two houses. While the APC leadership is insisting on party supremacy in the election of the officers, Senate President Bukola Saraki and the House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara appear
determined to do it their own way. The APC had forwarded the list of its nominees to the leadership of the two legislative chambers for adoption. But, they both ignored the list and asked the caucuses to meet and nominate officers of their choice. The Senate President was able to have his way at the end of the day by upholding the list presented by the caucuses.
But, a similar move in the House of Representatives led to commotion and physical attack, which forced the House to adjourn. The leadership of the APC had written Dogara and recommended that his opponent in the speakership race and former Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, be made the Majority Leader, while Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Mr. Mohammed Monguno and Mr. Pally Iriase should become the Deputy Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Whip respectively.
The APC leadership had indicated that the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively was not acceptable and that the duo would be sanctioned. The party had asked its members to vote for Senator Ahmed Lawan and Gbajabiamila for the position of Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives respectively. But, confronted with the new reality, the party made a U-turn, saying it has accepted their leadership of the National Assembly. The proviso was that the Gbajabiamila camp, which lost out in the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, should be compensated.
With the adjournment, the election of the principal officers of the Green Chamber is still an unfinished business. Indeed, the battle line has been drawn over the matter; Dogara would be on collision course with the APC leadership, when the House resumes sitting in 10 days time. Various efforts have been made to reconcile the two camps ahead of the July 21 resumption of sitting. The latest is the one by governors elected on the platform of the APC.
But, the two camps are far from agreeing on the matter. Though substantial progress has been made in the peace initiative brokered by the governors of the APC, by extracting a concession to cede the position of Majority Leader to the aggrieved Gbajabiamila camp, but there is a caveat: the nominee for the position should be from any zone other than the North East and the South West that have already produced the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. Hitherto, the Speaker and his loyalists had objected to ceding the position to the Gbajabiamila group, who was shortchanged during the intriguing contest for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker last month.
The caveat rules out the possibility of the former Minority Leader becoming the leader of the APC caucus in the House (Majority Leader), as the APC leaders had wanted. But, the Gbajabiamila-led lawmakers, following the party’s position, have rejected the offer. The group, in a statement issued by Hon. Rufai Chachangi, rejected the deal, saying no agreement had been reached on the matter, as Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal who brokered the deal was yet to get back to them.
His words: “We the 174 APC Loyalists group of the House are aware that there was a private discussion between Gov. Aminu Tambuwal and President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening at the State House. We also aware that Gov. Tambuwal briefed the press that there would be a meeting between him and Speaker Dogara’s group the same day. To the best of our knowledge, no counter-offer has been made to the APC Loyalists group after its first meeting with the Tambuwal peace committee wherein the APC loyalists clearly stated that in line with the party supremacy resolution reached at the last APC NEC meeting, the position of the party on Femi Gbajabiamila as the House Leader was not negotiable.”
He said the argument of ensuring that the federal character principle prevails in the distribution of principal offices in the National Assembly does not hold water, as that could not be sustained legally. He added: “We understand that the Dogara group is now playing the zoning card after same group had hitherto before the speakership election of June 9, 2015, rejected the zoning formula of the party prior to the mock election. Interestingly, the six geo-political zones are not recognised by the constitution. But, if they wish to play the zoning card, then the Senate and House cannot be headed by the North.”
Dogara’s refusal to read the letter from the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, nominating principal officers on the floor of the House had been condemned as a clear case of rebellion against the ruling party. Dogara had explained that he did not read the letter because of the court case instituted against him by aggrieved members of the party.
Observers condemned the Speaker’s decision to shun the party’s directive. Former governor of the old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo, said the party’s decision is supreme in every democratic setting. He said: “The APC legislators got to the National Assembly on the platform of the party. You can’t turn your back against the party’s directive. The party’s decision must be respected by its members in the parliament. I am a party man. I was in the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Whenever we met at the party level, the party issued directives which we obeyed. From my experience, the party’s position on any matter is supreme. The party’s directive is binding on every loyal party member, no matter your position in the Senate or House of Representatives.”
He said the APC leaders and the lawmakers should try and sort out their differences. He added: “The party leadership should let them realise that the party supremacy is key. If there is no discipline in the party, how can it rule the country successfully?”
Another former legislator, Senator Yinka Omilani, equally believes that the party has the final say on appointment of principal officers of the National Assembly. Omilani who represented Osun West in the National Assembly between 2003 and 2007 said: “The party is supposed to take control of the appointment of the principal officers in the two legislative chambers. The normal thing is for the party to decide on those that will occupy the positions. The party should be in charge; it should have the last say on the matter. Legislators can’t use their discretion to select principal officers. No, it is never done.”
Omilani advised the APC to sanction its erring members for violating the party’s directive and that it must resolve the matter promptly, to be able to face the business of governance.
But, Dogara has stoutly defended his position, saying that since sovereignty belongs to the people, any party directive that is not centred round the people is wrong. He said: “It is my deepest conviction as a student of democracy; I know that democracy is loosely defined as the government of the people by the people and for the people. In actual fact, sovereignty in a democratic regime belongs to the people. The government is for the people and the party too is for the people.
“Absolute supremacy must be anchored on the sovereignty of our people because if we don’t pursue the interest of our people, you can guarantee the fact that sooner than later there may be no APC. So, the people must be at the centre of whatever policy we formulate or whatever directive we will give to somebody from the party must have our people at the centre of that activity, otherwise the people will rebel against us and we don’t pray for such.”
Nevertheless, the Speaker has appealed to the party not to view his action and that of his supporters as signs of disloyalty to the party. He said: “All of us contributed immensely to the building of the APC. It is our duty to ensure that the party survives. And they say it is only a mad man that will use the same hands that he used in building a house to pull it down. We are not mad, we are not fools.”
He has equally dismissed suggestions that he was planning to return to the PDP. He said he would remain in the APC, which he worked hard with others to build.
Dogara was born on December 26, 1967 to Yakubu Ganawuri and Saratu Yakubu. He had his primary education at Gwarangah Primary School in the then Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State between 1976 and 1982. Afterwards, he proceeded to the Bauchi Teachers’ College for his secondary education and obtained a Grade II Teachers’ Certificate in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB Hons.) degree from the University of Jos, Plateau State, from where he graduated in 1992.
He later obtained a Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. A Christian from Bauchi State, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2007. He represents Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa Federal Constituency. He is married with two children.
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