The naming of the standing committees of the House of Representatives has been delayed over the unresolved issue of the formula for sharing the committees, The PUNCH learnt on Sunday.
Investigations showed that the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, who had come under pressure in the last few days to name the committees, attempted to announce them on Thursday last week but put it off again for that reason.
Rather than name the committees, the Selection Committee, which he heads, went into another round of meeting on Thursday in a bid to arrive at an amicable conclusion.
Findings indicated that state and zonal caucuses’ representatives had yet to agree on how many committees each state or zone should get.
One official, who was part of the meetings, told The PUNCH that the issue of how many key committees (otherwise known as ‘juicy committees’) each zone should get had not been finalised as of Thursday.
It was also gathered that some influential lawmakers had insisted that certain key committees must be given to their zones as they had positioned themselves to be the chairmen of such committees.
“These were the few issues that caused the delay. However, it is expected that all the issues will be resolved this week and the committees and chairmen should be out any time before the end of the week.
“The majority of members have already indicated the committees they will like to serve on and the sharing among the states is the final leg of the discussions,” the source added.
Investigations revealed that many members opted for committees considered to have supervisory roles over lucrative Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.
However, in a bid to ensure a “manageable” number of members serving on committees, the Selection Committee was said to have been pruning the number “in line with the relevant provisions of House rules.”
The most sought committees as of Thursday remained Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream); Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream); Committee on Appropriation; Committee on Finance; Committee on Communications; Committee on Power; Committee on Works; Committee on Customs; Committee on NDDC; Committee on Electoral Matters; Committee on Gas; Committee on Aviation; Committee on Baking/Currency; Committee on House Services; Committee on Water Resources; Committee on Agriculture; Committee on Education; and Committee on Defence.
The PUNCH gathered that Dogara kept the decision on who should chair the committees to himself as it was not an item at the meetings of the Selection Committee.
“The Selection Committee does not discuss chairmanship of committees. Their discussions stop at collation of the choices of members and the distribution of the committees across states and zones.
“The Speaker will be the one to pick the chairmen based on the state or zonal distribution,” another member confided in The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday.
Members believed to be certain to hold key committees include Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, who is likely to chair the Committee on Appropriation; Mr. Babangida Ibrahim (Committee on Finance); Mr. Zakari Mohammed; Ms. Nnena Ukeje; Mohammed Monguno; Mr. Adams Jagaba; Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta; Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas; Chike Okafor; and Betty Apiafi.
Contrary to initial reports, The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that the House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, would not be directly involved in appointing members to the headship of committees.
However, Dogara reportedly offered many of Gbajabiamila’s close allies and “loyalists” in the run up to the June 9 speakership election, some key committee positions.
“The strategy is about loyalty. This will ensure that the beneficiaries will now be loyal to the Speaker and not the leader.
“But, in the overall interest of peace, the leader will also be comfortable that some of his men hold key committees even though he did not recommend them,” the source stated.
Meanwhile, out of the proposed total number of 95 committees, the majority All Progressives Congress is said to have been allotted the lion’s share of 57, whi of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, declined to speak on the composition of the committees.
When asked a specific question on the distribution of the committees among the parties, he replied, “I don’t know.” Punch
