Members of the House of Representatives loyal to the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, have rejected a proposal by Speaker Yakubu Dogara to zone principal offices in the House to reflect the spirit of Federal Character.
Mr. Dogara had in a reply to the letter written by the national chairman of the APC, John Oyegun, nominating members to be elected as principal officers, outlined reasons why he could not obey the party.
The party wants Femi Gbajabiamila as House Leader, a proposal rejected b Mr. Dogara.
The speaker argued that the North East and South West had already produced the Speaker and his deputy, saying it would be unfair to still allocate the House Leader to the South West.
But in their reply dated July 18, the APC loyalists, who also support Mr. Gbajabiamila, said the Speaker erred by citing the Federal Character principle. They said all the sections of the constitution quoted by the Speaker refer to people appointed by the executive and had no bearing on legislative arm.
They also said the Speaker was not in support of the zoning principle when there were moves, sometime in May, to zone the office of Speaker to the South West and Senate President to the North East.
See Full letter of the APC loyalist below:

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
Chairman,
All Progressives Congress.
Dear Chief Oyegun,

Nomination of Principal Officers in the House of Representatives

Our attention has been drawn to the letter written to you by the Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara in response to your letter to him almost a month prior.  We find Hon. Dogara’s letter fraught with several fundamental flaws in his analysis and interpretation of the Constitution and House rules. This is to set the records straight.
THE CONSTITUTION
1. We stand on our earlier position that whilst we accept and agree with the principle  of Federal Character, the Constitutional provisions in that regard are strictly in reference to the appointment to the Federal Executive and its agencies. The principle of Federal Character is not intended to be given such elasticity to the extent that it would extend to the running and internal workings of the House which is not a government agency and whose members are not appointed but elected.
2. Assuming Federal Character was meant to be applicable to the National Assembly, then certainly one of the Houses of the National Assembly must be headed by a Southerner. Remember sir, that in the run-up to the election of the Senate President and Speaker, our party made a deliberate choice, to apply this same principle of Federal Character such that all qualified zones will be represented in the spirit of national unity, which we embrace, but we all know how that ended. Furthermore to accept the Speaker’s arrangement would mean the two most powerful positions in the Senate and House after the presiding officers would be occupied by the North.
3. Whilst we maintain that our party’s mantra of ‘Change’ for the growth and development of our dear nation requires that merit should not be sacrificed on the altar of zoning, we have painstakingly ensured that in the selection of our leaders in the House, all zones are represented, except the South East, which unfortunately, are currently excluded from holding leadership positions because the House Rules disqualifies ‘inexperienced’ members from holding leadership position. Unfortunately, all our party members from the South East are first term legislators. The South East can be adequately compensated through other means without violating our rule on appointment of principal officers.
4. Hon. Dogara, in paragraph 7 of his letter quotes the provision of section 147 of the constitution which specifically requires that the President in appointing Ministers, shall observe the Federal Character principle as provided in section 14. He has inadvertently made our point that Federal Character is applicable only to the executive and its agencies. If the framers of our constitution had intended same to apply to the running of the legislature Houses, similar provisions which mandated the president specifically, would have been included in the case of the National Assembly. This is how laws are interpreted and all lawyers know this including the Speaker. This legal principle of interpretation is known as the “exclusion unis “rule of interpretation
5. Again the Speaker referred to the Third Schedule Part 1c of the constitution which he quotes in part, leaving out vital provisions which would not support the position of zoning in the National Assembly. We encourage the party to read this provision closely, particularly section 8 which lists the bodies over, which the Federal Character commission has jurisdiction. Indeed, section 8 of the third schedule sets up the Federal Character commission and it provides as follows:
“In giving effect to the provisions of section 14(3) and (4) of this constitution, the commission shall have the power to –
(a). Work out an equitable formula subject to the approval of the National Assembly for the distribution of all cadres of posts in the public service of the federation and of the states, the armed forces of the federation, the Nigerian police force and other government security agencies, government owned companies and parastatals of the states…..
Furthermore and more compelling is sub section 2 which states in defining meaning of political posts:
“The posts mentioned in subparagraph 1 (a) and (b) shall include those of the permanent secretaries, directors general in extra ministerial departments and parastatals, directors in ministries and extra ministerial departments, senior military Officers, senior diplomatic posts and managerial cadres in the federal and state parastatals, bodies, agencies and institutions”
These are all executive appointments and not legislative offices.
The above proviso Mr. Chairman recognizes Federal Character only as it relates to the executive and government agencies. The National Assembly is not recognized for that purpose.

For More read on:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/186987-nass-crisis-apc-loyalists-reject-speaker-dogaras-zoning-proposal.html

....and the fight continue
at this point em forced to believe PDP was better option
cos with all these divided house, We can only expect disaster in the next four years..except they unite

lantessy:

damn yu!!!

brooklyn49:

damn yu!!!

Sorry, try again next time

Assuming Federal Character was meant to be applicable to the National Assembly, then certainly one of the Houses of the National Assembly must be headed by a Southerner. Remember sir, that in the run-up to the election of the Senate President and Speaker, our party made a deliberate choice, to apply this same principle of Federal Character such that all qualified zones will be represented in the spirit of national unity, which we embrace, but we all know how that ended

Word

change49ja:
[b][/b]

Word

exactly

Nigeria lawbreaker, una never tire


Smh

We will not compromise intergrity with zoning in National Assembly leadership. - Tinubu
APC wanted to reflect federal character in National Assembly leadership. - APC loyalist.
What is the difference between Federal Character and Zoning
APC is a confused party.

Okay