Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has finally capitulated to President Muhammadu Buhari by appointing some of his loyalists as principal officers of the Green Chamber.
Dogara had insisted on having his way in using zoning in the appointment of principal officers of the House, but his opponents led by Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila had said he must respect the party’s position on the matter.
Acting under the aegis of The APC Loyalists, Gbajabiamila had met with Buhari twice, while Buhari had also reportedly reached out to Dogara to ensure a balance in the sharing of the offices.
However, the opposing groups: the Consolidation Group led by Dogara and the APC Loyalists Group in a reconciliatory agreement tagged ‘Equity Team’ announced their decision to adopt the zoning formula proposed by the speaker.
At a joint press conference in Abuja Saturday, the Gbajabiamila Group represented by Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Hon. Pally Iriase and Hon. Mohammed Monguno, while the Consolidation Group represented by Hon. Abdulmumin Jirin announced that the crisis had been resolved in the interest of peace and national unity.
Speaking on behalf of the APC Loyalists, Iriase said, “We looked at it and used it to assess the Speaker’s proposal that Doguwa (North- West) be made House Leader, Pally Iriase (South-South), the Chief Whip, Buba Jubrin (North-Central) be made Deputy Leader and Chike Okafor (South-East) be made Deputy Whip.
“We reflected on it and made consultations and I hereby let you know that majority of the APC caucus in the House have accepted this position. This position was accepted because it reflects inclusiveness, equity, fairness and justice.
“This position was accepted because Nigerians’ patience has been overtasked and our sense of responsibility will be called to question if this crisis lingers further.
“In doing this, we are very indebted and salute the maturity and sense of responsibility, fairness and justice of the speaker, who ceded the major substantive positions to our group, the Loyalists.
“We urge all those who might have wished that this crisis ought to be resolved in a different way to think Nigeria first and embrace peace for the sake of having a respectable and enduring institution of legislature in Nigeria.
“The three of us, known to be key members and leading lights of the Loyalists group, have stepped forward on behalf of our members to accept the position as indicated in the Speaker’s proposal.
“We remain very committed members of that group, we feel this is a fair arrangement to resolve the crisis.”
In his presentation, a representative of the Dogara camp, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said that “we have commenced the collection of signatures which has reached advanced stage to affirm the Dogara formula.
“All other interests, including those excluded from the principal officers specifically Hon. Gbajabiamila and Hon. Monguno will be duly accommodated with commensurate responsibility to serve.
“Since the speaker has about 200 positions to share out, many members will have the opportunity to serve the country. We hereby express our deep appreciation to Mr. President for his fatherly disposition during this disagreement.
“We also commend our party for its patience and understanding and re-affirm our continued support for the realisation of its objectives.
“We thank Speaker Dogara for his maturity and gentle disposition towards ensuring that the disagreement is amicably resolved.”
Confirming the reconciliation, Monguno who lost out in the race for deputy speaker against Dogara’s deputy, Yusuf Lasun, said, “Ordinarily, I should be the last person to be part of this meeting because both Iriase and Doguwa have maintained their positions under our platform but I am losing out.
“I decided to accept the Dogara proposal and consequently lose out just because it is in the interest of Nigeria and peace and unity in the House.”
However, a faction of the APC Loyalists Group led by Hon. Nasiru Zangon Daura has dissociated itself from the purported peace moves.
Reacting to the development, Zangon- Daura in a statement said, “The APC Loyalists Group hereby denies and unequivocally rejects any purported endorsement of a so -called formula on the APC leadership in the House of Representatives.
Any member of our group who claims to be part of this arrangement acts on his own and not on behalf of the group.”
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