Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media/Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, explains to JOHN AMEH that All Progressives Congress lawmakers chair the most important committees in the House
The Speaker has announced the chairmen of 96 standing committees of the House of Representatives. How do you see this development?
The speaker (Yakubu Dogara) did the right thing; because in a multi-party democracy, he has been able to carry everybody on board and also understands that we have differences. Hence, every section of the country was carried along. Due process, particularly in the process of composition, was followed. He did a fairly good job because he ensured that nobody was short-changed.
But, there are members who feel that the committees were shared in such a way that the Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers were favoured to the detriment of their All Progressives Congress counterparts. What do you think?
First, the All Progressives Congress got 48 of the committees, while the Peoples Democratic Party had 45. The All Progressives Grand Alliance and the others had one chairman each. The Speaker wants to deviate from the winner-takes-all syndrome or a zero-some game whereby if you lose, you get nothing. The principle of the APC is to have a fair deal always. That is the ‘change’ we are talking about. If you look at the composition of the committees, the most important job of the parliament is how to appropriate funds. The Committee on Appropriations is headed by us (APC); Committee on Finance is headed by the APC; same thing with other committees on customs, defence, water resources and so on.
Of course, there are a few that are on the other side, but that is to show that we are living in a multi-party democracy. We are not supposed to take everything; more so that the APC holds the Presidency. Again, it is the tradition of the House that the Committee on Petroleum Resources should always go to the South. Water resources and agriculture committees (usually) go to the North. We respected this tradition. Even the rules of the House acknowledge that where there is no provision on an issue, the convention should be followed.
How do you defend three oil and gas sector committees going to the PDP in a dispensation of ‘change’?
What I am saying is that these committees you mentioned have been traditionally reserved for the South. But, that is not even important compared to the fact that it is us in the APC who will appropriate funds for government. Even at the federal level, our President will be in charge of the oil and gas sector. So, we have to ensure that things are not done with some grievances in mind. This is a parliament for the Nigerian people, not just for the APC. There has to be peace at the end of the day in everything that we do. Mr. President is even talking about diversifying the economy; we are looking at things like solid minerals and so on. It is surprising that people still focus on the oil sector as the main thing even when we are talking about diversification.
There are members who do not agree with you explanations. They have actually turned in their resignation as committee chairmen. How do you react to that?
As I said earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a member of our party, has told us at several fora that he is for diversification of the economy. He is most particular about solid minerals development. In a bid to support the President’s vision, the Speaker in his wisdom decided to appoint a very senior member of the House, (Garba Dhatti-Muhammad) to chair the Committee on Solid Minerals so that he can relate very well with the president’s agenda. Well, he had the right to resign as a chairman. But, that also means that Dhatti-Muhammad does not subscribe to the President’s agenda to diversify the economy. The Speaker appointed him because he believed that as a senior person, he would buy into the president’s agenda. Again, legislators should be very careful when they are given responsibilities and they turn them down. Going on national television in the chamber to reject the chairmanship of committees, your electorate will have issues with you.
Tomorrow, if you are given another opportunity to serve this country say in a ministerial position, somebody will refer to the fact that you once rejected a responsibility to serve the country in the parliament. They will ask why you think they should trust you to be a minister or hold any other position again. Finally, APC legislators should stop talking about ‘juicy committees’. Such talks should come from the opposition, not from the APC. Rejecting a committee because you think it is not ‘juicy’ is not in the spirit of change or the agenda of Mr. President. Are they thinking more of what will come into your pockets? To the leadership of the House, all the committees are important, because the idea is for them to work for Nigerians.
Do you also think that certain zones, especially the South-West, don’t deserve higher number of committees and quality than what they got?
My position is that we should not dwell too much on this issue of committees. The South-West has already gotten a fair share of the positions, particularly at the House of Representatives. You have a Deputy Speaker and the House leader; both coming from the South-West. Many committees, including customs and communications, were given to the South-West. I think that, apart from being made a chairman or deputy chairman of a committee, legislators should remember that there are many duties that will come up that the Speaker will assign to them to handle. My plea here is that, we should not let Nigerians begin to conclude that members of the National Assembly only fight for their personal interests. People want us to work, to implement our legislative agenda and all that we promised them at the beginning of this session. Of course, committees are important, but we should not act like everything is about committee headship.
What do you say to members who also hold the view that Yakubu Dogara merely shared out the committees to his loyalists, even when they are APC members?
To be fair to the Speaker, there is a particular state from the North-West that did not support him, but the number of committee chairmen and deputies he picked from there is more than what the state got in the 7th Assembly. The House has passed the stage of Dogara versus Gbajabiamila. The very day the election was decided, Gbajabiamila embraced the Speaker and he said he was ready to support him. We sat as the APC caucus and agreed to forget the past and forge ahead. People are still seeking for ways to dig up dead issues; that is not good. The member who is heading the Committee on Customs was the Director General of the Gbajabiamila campaign group before the speakership elections.
However, we must also admit the fact that no matter who is made the Speaker; whatever list he comes out with will still be criticised. It is typical of Nigerians. People will always raise issues. We saw the case with the reactions that followed the nomination of ministers by Mr. President. People must talk.
Is there a possibility of making some adjustments, perhaps to placate the APC members?
The Speaker took his time to come up with this list. This is the best judgment so far. What we have to do is to allow the committees to start their work. Very soon, it will be easy to identify those who cannot perform. Members should be patient.
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