Trouble appears to be brewing in the House of Representatives again as investigations showed on Wednesday that some lawmakers had begun moves to remove the Speaker, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, from office.
THE PUNCH learnt that the cause of the latest development was the inability of the majority of the 360-member legislature to secure re-election tickets to the National Assembly.
Findings indicated that a call for the speaker’s impeachment would have been made as lawmakers reconvened on Tuesday but for the abrupt decision of Bankole to adjourn the House for another two weeks.
Sources close to the aggrieved legislators said that they blamed their dismal performance at the primaries of their political parties on Bankole and President Goodluck Jonathan.
In the Peoples Democratic Party alone, over 120 lawmakers out of about 260 were unable to secure return tickets.
A National Assembly official, who disclosed this to our correspondent in Abuja, pleaded not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
He said, “The PDP members, in particular, held several meetings with the speaker before the primaries; there was an understanding that he would push for them to secure automatic tickets.
“This was supposed to have been discussed with the President and the leadership of the party before the primaries.
“It was this understanding that led to their (lawmakers’) decision to discontinue the proposal to amend the Electoral Act 2010 by making lawmakers members of the National Executive Committees of their respective political parties.”
But, rather than protect their interests, the lawmakers are reported to be angry that their respective state governors were allowed to have a free ride during the primaries.
An influential member of the House said to be mobilising his colleagues for the impeachment proceedings, reportedly invited 86 “aggrieved legislators” to his Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, on Monday, 24 hours to Tuesday’s resumption.
The lawmakers later moved to a popular hotel in the city, where they allegedly fine-tuned a plot they would have implemented on Tuesday.
Our correspondent learnt that Bankole got wind of the plot and hurriedly adjourned the House for two weeks in order to have enough time to calm the aggrieved lawmakers.
One of the 83 legislators, who also confirmed the development, said their plot to remove Bankole would continue while their ‘forced’ vacation lasted.
He said, “He (Bankole) must have sensed what was coming; he adjourned the sitting abruptly and took most of us by surprise.
“There were several issues on the Order Paper to be considered on Tuesday ; but he simply adjourned the House the moment we passed the bill to amend the Electoral Act to extend the voter registration.
“Our meeting will continue during our forced holidays. We are even meeting again tonight (Wednesday night) it is not over until it is over.”
On Tuesday, while adjourning the plenary, Bankole had explained that it was to allow the various committees to work on the estimates of the 2011 budget.
He also said that lawmakers would use the period to monitor the voter registration in their respective constituencies.
Among the issues lawmakers are reported to be dusting up to use against Bankole, is the N2.4bn car scam.
The case is still before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, though the commission explained last year that it completed the investigation and handed the file over to President Umaru Yar’Adua before he died in May.
When contacted, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, said he did not understand why Bankole should be the target of the aggrieved lawmakers.
According to Eyiboh, the loss of re-election tickets should be treated as political party affair rather than blaming it on particular heads of government institutions.
Eyboh also held the view that the lawmakers merely “suffered setbacks at the primaries”, not that they lost their bid to return to the House.
“The primaries are just a part of the process leading to the emergence of party candidates for the main election; you have complaints to be filed, you have appeals and you have the point where the party finally submits the names of candidates.
“It is only when the process is completed that you can say that a particular person has lost or is retained,” he stated.
Eyiboh admitted being “aware that most members are aggrieved over the setbacks they suffered”, but argued that it was a party affair.
He, appealed for calm, saying that the leadership of the House and lawmakers must find a solution to the latest tension by resolving to “work as a family.”
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