Thursday’s nauseating rumpus in the
chamber of the House of Reps again
brought to the fore questions about the
unity and preparedness of the ruling All
Progressives Congress, APC for governance.
While Nigerians continue to wait with
patience as President Muhammadu Buhari
comes to grips with the process of
governance, not few are amused by the
incoherence of the ruling party in getting its
majority in the two chambers of the
National Assembly to settle down to the
process of governance.
Reflective of the disarray in the ruling party,
the APC has been unable to come up with its
full complement of principal officers in the
two chambers of the National Assembly.
This is the longest time since the advent of
the Fourth Republic that the National
Assembly has not been able to showcase its
principal officers.
Even when the Senate came up with its
Leader in the person of Senator Ali Ndume
from Borno and his deputy, Senator Bala Ibn
Nallah from Kebbi, it was another
humiliation for the national leadership of
the ruling party.
The humiliation was in the sense that the
party had insisted on proclaiming the
leaders for the two chambers.
While the chaos was ongoing in the House,
the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki
announced Ndume and Nallah as the leaders
presented by the Northeast and Northwest
caucuses of the party. The APC caucus in the
Senate had earlier zoned the office of the
Senate Leader and Deputy Leader to the
Northeast and Northwest and in voting
among the senators from the two zones, the
two names emerged.
However, the party had preferred its poster
boy, Senator Ahmad Lawan who vied with
Saraki for the senate presidency for the
office of Senate Leader, a move that was
rejected by Lawan’s own zone who voted
Ndume by nine votes to the two votes
scored by Lawan.
Besides, the party in a letter to Senator
Saraki had also demanded that another loyal
senator, Senator George Akume be returned
as Deputy Senate Leader and Senator Sola
Adeyeye (Southwest) as Chief Whip and
Senator Abu Ibrahim (Northwest) be
returned as Deputy Chief Whip. The zoning
permutation as articulated by the leadership
would have meant that the South-South
geopolitical zone would be missing in the
body of principal officers of the Senate, a
fact many senators had pointed out to the
national leadership, albeit to no avail.
That was essentially because Akume, who
was proposed as deputy leader comes from
the same North-Central geopolitical zone as
the Senate President.
In the House the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
led leadership had also written requesting
the nomination of Femi Gbajabiamila, who
lost to Senator Yakubu Dogara in the race
for speaker as House Leader.
Like the choice of Akume, the proposal for
the election of Gbajabiamila from the
Southwest would have meant that the
region would have produced two members
from the party in the leadership with the
North-Central and the Southeast being
denied an office.
The inclination has led to suggestions of
marginalisation from some sections of the
party, particularly from the areas sidelined.
The North-Central caucus in the House led by
Rep. Ahman Pategi from Kwara State at a
press conference on Wednesday fumed that
the party took the decision to name persons
to the various positions without consulting
them expressing shock in the action of their
party which they claimed should not be seen
to be preferring individuals or zones over
another.
Pategi who was flanked by about 20 other
members from the zone said: “We are also
amazed by the directive of the party to the
leadership of the House to take necessary
action on the purported choice by the party,
which we see as a clear usurpation of the
powers of the zonal caucuses and their
members as guaranteed by the constitution
and the standing rules of the House of
Representatives.
“We, therefore, strongly reject the purported
selection by the party which we see as
being in conflict with the principle of the
federal character as enshrined in the
constitution of the Federal Republic.”
“It will be inconsiderate of the party to
consider North-East and South-West that
had produced the Speaker and Deputy
Speaker for other positions. The exclusion of
two zones is not acceptable,” he said.
Party members from the Southeast also
upbraided the party on its inclinations.
“We can’t stand here and allow the party
sweep us out,” said a South East reps
member.
But the party is also faced with its own
problems; to wit affirming its authority over
the legislators who were sponsored on the
platform of the party.
It is particularly difficult for the party given
that the majority of those stoking the
rebellion including Senator Saraki and
Speaker Dogara were dissidents of the
former ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
who moved into the APC from the PDP after
helping to crash their former party.
The two men ironically were helped to office
by the PDP which paid back the APC for the
insidious effort of the former Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN in frustrating the
PDP’s zoning arrangement that helped to
enthrone the Aminu Tambuwal leadership
on the House of Representatives in 2011.
Given the background of how it catalysed
the breakup of the PDP in the period leading
to the 2015 election, many are surprised
that the APC has allowed itself to be boxed
into this avoidable corner.
The party’s attempt to stamp its authority
has, however, been badly managed with
allegations of cronyism and dictatorship in
the running of the party.
Many of the nominees preferred by the party
as principal officers are known associates of
a prominent national leader of the party, a
decision some claim would mean locking
out those not close to the leader from top
positions.
As some members of the APC raised bedlam
in what was obviously a pre-planned riot, it
was remarkable that a sizeable proportion
of those who rallied in support of Speaker
Dogara were members of the PDP. The
import was that the APC was just like the
PDP with Speaker Tambuwal after 2011,
pushing the speaker out of the party into
the embrace of the opposition party.
Even more dangerous for the party is the
fact that a sizeable proportion of those who
had been heeding the party’s voice are also
coming round to the side of the speaker.
One state caucus after another have come to
pledge allegiance Dogara. One of the most
telling examples was the case of the Jigawa/
Kano delegation who overwhelmingly voted
by about 90% against him.
Hon Doguwa told the speaker: “Members of
the Kano and Jigawa caucuses did what
they did because of the party’s position, but
now that you have emerged as the speaker
we have nothing but to concur with the will
of God and to pledge our loyalty.”
Such pledges of loyalty are not surprising
given the speaker’s powers and
entrenchment. Many other members are also
alleged to be taking turns to pledge loyalty
in the light of the fact that the speaker has
the final say on what committees the
members may belong to.
by Emmanuel Aziken, Vanguard's Political
Editor

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