A letter purportedly sent by the leadership of the All Progressive
\nCongress, APC, on how the leadership of the National Assembly should
\nemerge is the reason by the fight that broke up this morning at the House
\nof Representatives, APC Caucus members said in a statement.<\/p>\n
A member, Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura, representing Zango\/Baure Federal
\nConstituency of Katsina State, who issued a press statement on the
\nphysical battle that ensued in the Green Chamber during plenary on
\nThursday said the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, is committing illegality by
\nattempting to foist leadership on the House.<\/p>\n
The statement reads, \u201cWe are here on behalf of our colleagues of the APC
\nHouse Caucus to explain to you the unfortunate occurrence during today\u2019s
\nplenary session.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe action that occurred inside the chamber of the House of
\nRepresentatives was in reaction to the illegal and unconstitutional action
\ntaken by Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives, an action
\nin his usual tradition of total disregard to the wishes of the majority
\nmembers of the APC Caucus, the Party itself and the spirit of the Party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of a letter sent by our Party, APC, dated 23rd June 2015,
\nconveying the approval of the party\u2019s principal officers vis a vis the APC
\nHouse Leader, the APC Chief Whip, the APC Deputy House Leader and the APC
\nDeputy Chief Whip for the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis letter by the Party is in compliance with the expressed wish and
\nmandate of the Majority Members of the APC Caucus in the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action of the party and the APC House Caucus is in compliance with
\nthe Nigerian Constitution, the House rules and parliamentary tradition,
\npractices and precedents in Nigeria and all over the World.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to our surprise and in breach of our privilege and rights as
\ncontained in the Constitution and extant House Rules, Mr. Speaker refused
\nto read the letter from our party.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Speaker and Deputy Speaker are not Party Principal Officers but are
\nHouse of Representatives Presiding Officers and by precedent and practice
\nare expected to provide a level playing ground for all members, while the
\nParty Principal Officers are supposed to be the main advocates for their
\nindividual party positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives are
\nelected by all members of the House of Representatives irrespective of
\nparty affiliation and it is also possible under our extant rules for a
\nSpeaker and his Deputy to be elected from a minority\/opposition party in
\nthe National Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives cannot
\nunder extant laws and House rules appoint, choose, select, dictate or even
\nprovide guidance on how Party Principal Officers emerge or are elected or
\nselected. That responsibility and authority lies with each Party and
\nParty\u2019s Caucus members in the House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I may ask, is Speaker Yakubu Dogara empowered to do that for the PDP
\nHouse Caucus?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action by Speaker Yakubu Dogara cannot and will not be allowed to
\nstand as it will set a dangerous precedent in our parliamentary practice
\nas it will give the Speaker the right and authority to appoint, choose,
\nselect, dictate or even provide guidance on how Principal Officers emerge
\nor are elected or selected by the Majority and Minority Parties in the
\nHouse of Representatives. This action is capable of truncating our
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs for the claim being made that a particular zone should not be allowed
\nto produce more than one Principal Officer, we say this with all sense of
\ndecorum, that this claim is absolute rubbish.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrecedences were set in the 6th & 7th Assemblies where a single zone, the
\nNorth-West, produced two and three Principal Officers, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, the loyal and disciplined majority APC Caucus in the House of
\nRepresentatives are fully committed in ensuring that our party\u2019s and
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s manifesto, agenda and positions prevail
\ndespite the efforts and shenanigans of the opposition party(s) and the few
\ndisloyal and undisciplined APC party members in the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are determined in our efforts to utilise all legislative strategies
\navailable to us, so as to ensure the compliance with due process and
\ndemocratic norms and values.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall persevere, come rain come shine!<\/p>\n
\u201cWe the loyal and disciplined majority APC Caucus in the House of
\nRepresentatives and the All Progressives Congress have dished out enough
\nof the carrots, it\u2019s time to crack the whip so as to ensure party
\ndiscipline and maintain order.<\/p>\n
\u201cDare I say, we rode to power on the platform of the party, the party is
\nsupreme and thus no one is above the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod Bless the All Progressives Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod Bless The House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod Bless Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank You for listening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A letter purportedly sent by the leadership of the All Progressive Congress, APC, on how the leadership of the National Assembly should emerge is the reason by the fight that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n