10 NASS EXPECTATIONS AS REPS. RESUME
By Akin Tunde Abuja
The National Assembly serves as a beacon of hope and progress for any democratic country. In Nigeria, this statement remains as valid as ever. The strong leadership skills, sound judgment, and unwavering commitment to democratic principles of our senators and honorable representatives are handy. These are expected to be fully deployed in their legislative duties of helping the country become more secure and develop as the 10th Assembly opens.
On June 13, the 10th House of Representatives was proclaimed and inaugurated with Hon. Tajudeen Abbas representing Zaria federal constituency of Kaduna State (North-West) and Hon. Benjamin Kalu representing Bende Federal constituency of Abia State (South-East) emerging as the speaker and deputy speaker respectively.
Abbas defeated the duo of the former deputy speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, representing Wase federal constituency of Plateau State and Hon. Aminu Sani Jaji representing Kaura Namoda/ Birnin Magaji federal constituency of Zamfara State by 353 votes against three apiece scored by the losers. After sitting for a few days and attending to a few issues, the House adjourned to enable the lawmakers to take care of their accommodation and resolve other personal issues and be prepared for serious legislative business.
Time is changing the dynamics of power in Nigeria as the legislature grows in institutional memory. And as the internal dynamics of a distinctly innovation-loaded legislature improve, it has more courage to do its job of being a watchdog to the executive, without cracking under the weight of the executive’s intimidation and the accumulated effect of its discursive statecraft.
So as they reconvene, the lawmakers the lawmakers will definitely have their hands full due to the enormity of challenges facing the nation. Nigeria at the moment is facing some socio-political headwinds. In addition, it is facing economic and demographic challenges – a large population with a high level of youth unemployment. Added to all these is the recent cost of living crisis and the hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy on petrol by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Office accommodation The lawmakers are expected to be given office allocation and their welfare taken care of. To make this a reality, the speaker, Abbas had before adjourning the House for the two weeks recess. The committees were that of selection, media, legislative agenda, rules and business, ethics and privileges, internal security, and welfare.
The selection committee was headed by the speaker with the deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, as deputy chairman. Each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be represented by one member on the committee.
Khadijah Bukar ABBA Ibrahim (APC, Yobe) is the chairman of the Media and Public Affairs Committee, while Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) is the chairman. The members include Akin Alabi (APC, Oyo), Ojema Ojotu (PDP, Benue), Irhiatake Ibori-Suenuhon (PDP, Delta), and Al-Mustapha Ibrahim Rabah (APC, Sokoto).
The Committee on Legislative Agenda is headed by Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo), while Hamisu Ibrahim Chidari (APC, Kano) is the deputy chairman. Akin Rotimi (APC, Ekiti), Aliyu Boya (APC, Adamawa), Musa Agah Avia (PDP, Plateau), and Chimaobi (LP, Enugu). The Committee on Rules and Business has Igariwey Iduma Enwo (PDP, Ebonyi) as chairman, Yusuf Shittu Galambi (NNPP, Jigawa) as deputy, was resolved upon resumption without much delay.
On a sunny Abuja Tuesday, the speaker announced the principal officers while reading letters from the minority caucus and the ruling APC. His words: “According to the standing rules that a member of the minority party shall nominate the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip, and Deputy Minority Whip, all coming from the minority parties in the House.
“For the minority parties, Kingsley Chinda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the Minority Leader, while Deputy Minority Leader is Ozodinobi George of the Labour Party, Minority Whip is Ali Issa also of the PDP, and Deputy Minority Whip is Ali Madaki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). The speaker also announced Julius Ihombvere as Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader Halims Abdullahi, and Chief Whip Bello Kumo, and Adewumi Onanuga as Deputy Chief Whip. Onanuga is the only female in the House leadership.
For the standing committees, Pinpoint Magazine gathered that before that day, there had been intense lobbying, especially while Hon. Festus Adefiranye Ayodele (APC, Ondo), Esin Martins Etim (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Kabiru Yusuf Alhaji (APC, Bauchi), and Jeremiah Umaru (APC, Nasarawa) are members.
Tunji Olawuyi is the chairman of the Ethics and Privileges Committee (APC, Kwara), while Umeruzuike Manuchim (LP, Rivers) is the deputy. The members are Obiageli Orogbu (LP, Anambra), Adewunmi Onanuga (APC, Ogun), Sagir Koki (NNPP, Kano), and Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno). A former chairman, House services, Wale Raji (APC, Lagos), is to chair the Committee on Welfare, Mohammed Danjuma (NNPP, Kano) is the chairman of the Committee on Internal Security.
Party Caucuses’ Leadership
The first issue the speaker quite appropriately handled has to do with the putting leadership structure in place. Of course, he was expected to tackle is the leadership of both the majority and minority parties in the chamber as well as the constitution of the standing committees of the House. The issue of majority and minority leadership of the House among ranking legislators.
The committees, which were most sought after, include Appropriation, Finance, House Services, Works, Housing, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Petroleum Resources (up and downstream), Gas, Marine Transport, Education (tertiary and basic), and Land Transport.
While many expected Betara, who chaired the Appropriation Committee in the 9th Assembly, is expected to retain the slot, James Faleke (APC, Lagos), who served as the secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and chairman of the Committee on Finance in the 9th House, is also said to be positioned for the committee. The longest-serving member of the House, Nicholas Mutu (PDP, Delta), is said to be eyeing committees on Gas Resources and NDDC. He was the chairman of Gas Resources in the previous House. Wale Raji (APC, Lagos), who chaired the House Services Committee in the 9th Assembly, is favored to retain the committee. At present, he heads the Welfare ad hoc Committee.
Unconfirmed sources said the speaker is still working on the standing committee’s leadership list and may take some weeks before announcing it.
Subsidy Palliatives Before proceeding on the recess, the House advised the Federal Government to implement palliative measures to mitigate the effects of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerian citizens. This advice was consequent upon a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Sani Madaki (NNPP, Kano). The motion was unanimously passed, and the Committee on Labour, Employment, and Productivity was mandated to ensure compliance and report back within two weeks when constituted.
Hence, the House will have to keep tabs on this issue since the effects of the subsidy removal are biting harder, and the Federal Government is yet to roll out a comprehensive program to alleviate the suffering of the citizenry.
While presenting the motion, Madaki said that on May 29, President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech, announced the removal of fuel subsidy. He said as a result of the subsidy removal, the official pump price of petrol skyrocketed from the initial N195 per litre to a whopping N480–N577 per litre as the prices varied between states.
He expressed concern that the implication of over 200 per cent price adjustment in fuel prices is that nearly all prices of goods and services have drastically increased. He submitted: “Also concerned that the sudden fuel subsidy removal has left millions of Nigerians terrified, thus causing untold hardship as Nigerians grapple with the challenges of meeting up with, not only the high cost of petrol but also the consequent increase in the prices of goods and services.
“Aware that in response to the resulting financial strain of the subsidy removal on public workers, some proactive State governments introduced temporary measures to alleviate the situation by reducing work days from five to three days per week for the State-employed workers pending when other sustainable palliatives can be provided.
“Also aware that the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress recently suspended a planned strike over the removal of fuel subsidy in the hopes that the Federal Government would address its adverse effects on workers.
“Further aware of a presidential directive to put palliative measures in place to ameliorate the impact of subsidy removal on Nigerians. “Worried that the Federal Government is yet to provide palliative measures to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal on Federal Government workers. “Also worried that since the removal of the subsidy, several protests have been recorded as citizens accuse the government of being insensitive to their needs.
“Cognizant of the need to put in place measures to protect the rights of citizens and prioritize the provision of palliatives to mitigate the challenges that have arisen from the fuel subsidy removal and ensure a more sustainable and inclusive economic framework for the benefit of Nigerians.”
Tackling the Menace of Flooding Another motion passed by the House that will be followed up on resumption is the need to prevent flooding across the country. The House had passed a motion mandating emergency management agencies across the country to procure materials and put in place machinery to prevent flooding.
Since after the motion, some devastating floods have taken place, including the one in the Federal Capital Territory that affected one of the biggest estates in Abuja, Trademore Estate, where several estates were submerged. These are some of the pressing issues that may occupy the attention of the House on resumption
