Politics
APC lawmaker rejects Dogara’s C’tee appointment
The disaffection that trailed the announcement of chairmanship and membership of committees of the House of Representatives was voiced on Tuesday when a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House, Garba Mohammed Datti representing Sabon Gari Federal Constituency, Kaduna, rejected his appointment as Chairman of the House standing committee on Solid Minerals Development.
The House leadership in quick reactions, accepted his rejection of the offer, replacing him with another member from his state, Kaduna, Suleiman Samaila.
Datti who was Deputy Minority Leader in the seventh assembly, felt offended that he was not consulted before the appointment was made. He walked out of the chambers after his announcement at plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Sulaimon Yussuff Lasun on Tuesday, eliciting applause from several members.
“I feel as a former principal officer I should have been consulted before my name was announced. I just heard of it on the floor. And I have my own principles. I have decided on my own to withdraw as the Chairman of that committee,” he said.
Read also: The politics of Speaker Dogara’s committees
He added that the decision was personal and not taken based on any external influence. He also expressed confidence in the leadership abilities of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, and reiterating his loyalty to the APC.
The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara last Thursday named 96 standing committees for the 8th House, coming after weeks of waiting apprehension.
The speaker had said the action was predicated on the need to comply with the revised standing orders of the parliament.
On why he failed to decline the appointment immediately after his name was announced on Thursday last week, Datti explained “I have to find out what happened first before I take my decision. And is only today (yesterday) that the approval has been given. For that reason I decided to withdraw.”
“I should have been consulted. If the president wants to appoint his ministers, I think before the announcement he has to consult them”, he said.
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...