Abuja based group, One Nigeria Movement (ONM), has faulted the House
of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila over his handling of the
House Minority Principal Officers, accusing him of turning himself to
an emperor by arrogating to himself, the powers to appoint minority
leaders in the House as against the position of the leading minority
party.
In a release on Friday, signed by its Convener General, Alhaji Ahmed
Sodiq-Mugoro, the ONM said it was appealing that Gbajabiamila could
resort to threatening his colleagues, who disagreed with his decision
to appropriate to himself, the power of majority of the minority
political party to appoint Minority Principal Officers as it has
happened in the past, which he (Gbajabiamila) benefitted from.
The group said Gbajabiamila must have to tell Nigerians how he emerged
as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives in 2007 and 2011
under Action Congress (AC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
respectively as well as 2015 under APC. Was it through letters from
his parties to the Speaker nominating him to lead the minority
parties? Were AC and ACN the only minority parties in 2007 and 2011
that Gbajabiamila was nominated as Minority Leader?
The ONM recalled that as it was the usual practice in the House, the
PDP forwarded names of Minority Leadership of the House in a letter
dated June 21, 2019 to the Speaker. The letter was duly received on
June 26, 2019 and contrary to the House rule that all correspondence
must be read at the plenary, the Speaker refused to read this letter.
Warning that the House of Representatives under Gbajabiamila was
already showing the signs of dictatorship and flagrant disregard for
rules and laid down procedures, the ONM apart from speaker and deputy
speaker, no other principal officer of the House is picked through
election.
The group described the Speaker’s as a continuation of the APC affront
on the constitution of the country, pointing out that those sought to
conquer the judiciary was now out to put the National Assembly under
their feet.
Our question is; is it now the duty of the Speaker to appoint
principal officers be it Majority or Minority?
As a group, whose interest is strict adherence to the rule of law and
respect for rights of political parties, we are further miffed that
the Speaker has a leader and that leader is in Lagos, watching his
political son turning himself to an emperor less than one month of his
assumption of office.
He even threatened a member of the house by saying; “If you test the
resolve of this house, you will regret it” and went on to rule out
another one who raised point of order saying; “even before you say
what your point of order is about, I rule you out of order.”
This leader that is watching and encouraging Gbajabiamila to arrogate
to himself the powers to appoint minority principal officers will
tomorrow say he wants to contest the Presidency of Nigeria.
We will seat back and watch how Nigerians will allow such a leader
that is encouraging his political son to disobey the law will succeed
in his ambition to become the President of Nigeria.
As for us as a group, at the appropriate time, we will again remind
Nigerians of this leader, who kicked against zoning in Nigeria when it
suited him and canvassed support for same when he knew that zoning
won’t protect his interests.
