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Why I flouted party directive -Dogara

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Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara has said that he could not read the letter from his party, the APC which recommended members for principal offices, because of a court process which had been filed by 30 APC members.

According to a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, the Speaker spoke during a church service held at the Living Faith Church, Durumi, in the Federal Capital Territory.

He also said that reliance on conventional wisdom alone would not solve the nation’s problems, noting that the country would likely achieve limited success without prayers.

Dogara specifically urged Nigerians to pray for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari and other persons in leadership positions in the country.

In his very first reaction to the results of the election in which he defeated former Minority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, by eight votes, he described his victory as a “miracle”.

He had said that looking at the formidable forces against him before the election, it came as a surprise to him that he emerged victorious.

Read Also: Reps-elect defy APC, vote Dogara as Speaker

At a separate meeting with former members of the House, Dogara said he assumed full responsibility for the fracas which broke out on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday last week.

However, he explained that a court process instituted by 30 APC members stopped him from acting on a letter from the party’s leadership, nominating four principal officers.

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But addressing the former lawmakers, Dogara said he could not toe the party’s line because the names did not reflect geographical balancing among the six zones in the country.

He also told the former members that some aggrieved members from the North-Central geo-political zone had already filed a litigation in court on the grounds that the appointments did not reflect the principle of Federal Character enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Dogara added, “Assuming they win the case and the court now rules that that directive of the party breaches the provision of the constitution relating to the federal character.

“So, do we now begin to see somebody vacating his office or principal position so that we can accommodate the court’s ruling?”

According to him, this was his reason for calling for an executive session on Thursday so that all the members could sit in camera to examine the issue.

However, he expressed regrets that his colleagues misread his intention, resulting in the fracas.

“That was why I had to call on the Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee on Media, (Mr. Sani Zoro), to apologise to Nigerians. I have accepted responsibility for everything that transpired and we apologise to the nation,” he stated.

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  1. Oise

    June 29, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Gentlemanly thing to do: apologize to Nigerians for the national embarrassment. Dogara will win my admiration if he takes measures to avoid a recurrence of that disgraceful display of lack of civility. The apology is okay, it is just not enough.

  2. Don Lucassi

    June 29, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    Not a good way to start but we can forgive you based on the fact that you have just revealed now and also because of how gentlemanly you have come forward to not only accept responsibility but to also apologise

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