House Dispels Rumours Of Rancour Among Members

A group of lawmakers have dismissed insinuations of rancour among members of the House of Representatives, following the compostion of the standing Commitees by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.

The group numbering six lawmakers including the Deputy Chief of Staff to the speaker, Mr Chamberlain Dunkwu dispelled the rumour at a joint Media conference in Abuja.

Spokesperson for the group,
Ikenga Ugochinyere, while addressing the media said the composition was rightly done, and that the Speaker put the interest of members above any personal interest.

“Abbas has started living up to our expectations, so majority of members of the 10th Assembly are commending his leadership style, ‘he said.

He said the speaker and the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu considered the interests of members in decision making, and that this was seen in the composition of principal officers and chairmanship of the standing committee.

According to him, the parliament is more united than ever as composition of the standing committee cuts across different interests including those who contested the speakership with him.

“No winner and no vanquished, most of his challengers in the race were given relevant committees chairmanship positions”.

“You can see, the main challenger, Aliyu Betera was given Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Committee, Sani Jaji was made chairman of Ecological fund.

“Also, Miriam Onuoha was made the chairman of Tetfund, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa was made the chairman of Petroleum Resources Upstream, Yusuf Gagdi was made the chairman of the Committee on Navy, ” he said.

The Spokesperson added that their frontline supporters were equally considered for committee chairmanship, adding that the composition was a reflection of the unity that existed, and they have promised on focusing on delivering on the people’s mandate.

” And that is why you can see the unity and oneness in the house, we are now set for the full business of a parliament.

Another member of the group, Deputy Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Jafaru Gambo Leko, said that the one hundred and thirty-four committees were not just numbers but that they will come together to put in work especially during oversight functions to ensure they serve the needs of those who voted them into office.

Present at the briefing also were; Aliyu Mustapha Abdullahi, Deputy Chairman House Committee on Petroleum Downstream and Sadiq Ango Abdulahi, Deputy Chairman House Committee on FERMA amongst others.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji