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…as NASS gradually wears toga of a rubber stamp legislature
… it’s laughable- Lawan
The minority leadership crisis rocking the House of Representatives is fast taking a larger than life shape as the Peoples Democratic party, PDP set up committee to probe the matter gradually dig deeper into how it all started.
It all started like a child’s play after the speaker of the House Hon Femi Gbajabiamila last week deliberately refused to honour PDP recognised list for the positions of minority principal officers on the floor of the House.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan had followed due process and diligently endorsed that of the Senate from the PDP.
But before the House drama a female Member of the PDP had invited the Zamfara lawmakers to come over to collect their money.
Innocently they went and collected a million naira each believing it was the vogue for new members only to discover that they were made to sign for the Elumelu led gang.
A lawmaker from the South South privy to this development told the TNG that”it was after the bubble bust on the floor of the House that the innocent lawmakers realised it was scam to endorse the Ndudi Elumelu faction.
“Out of anger, the lawmakers declared that the money would be returned to the female Member who told whoever cared to listen that she is in NASS strictly to make money.
“So many other lawmakers were involved in this scam that made us PDP Reps looked as if we were not organised.
” All members of the opposition parties held various meetings with us before suddenly Elumelu and co decided to disregard our party’s directive in active concert with the speaker.
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Asked whether this money for position as emboldened by the ninth Assembly is not a sign of an expected rubber stamp legislature, the lawmaker said:
“The judiciary is already pocketed after the new six justices assume office that’s the end of that arm of government.
“The legislature is almost going same way if the minority now works with the ruling party as Nigerians may soon start experiencing once this statusquo remains.
“All over the world the opposition can never be on the same page with the ruling party because if foreign delegates visit Nigeria the norm is to see the ruling party and the opposition parties.
“But if both opposition and the ruling are on the same page then something must be pathologically wrong which must be addressed now or we’ll soon see democracy collapsing under our nose.
On the PDP committee probing alleged infractions of some members and suspension of some critical stakeholders in the minority positions imbroglio, the lawmaker noted that:
“Before anything meaningful can be done here, the PDP must resolve the matter by ensuring that all warring factions shield their swords.
“But instead they all chose to go and see the president today (Friday) when the committee has not concluded its probe on the matter.
“Like I said earlier, if this matter is not properly resolved the legislature will go the same way of the judiciary.
Another lawmaker from the South West geo-political zone also declared that as it is Elumelu is a Commander without a troop.
The lawmaker who pleaded for anonymity noted that” well if Elumelu continues he may earn the benefits of the office of the minority leader but he can never call a caucus meeting of the PDP.
“He is going to be a Commander without a troop and so shall the situation remain except if the committee resolves the matter amicably.
“The whole thing was a scan properly crafted and well executed by the speaker to work towards making Nigeria a one party state.
“We’ll continue to stand by our party till the last minute and until this abnormality is properly corrected.
Also reacting to a consistent cry by Nigerians that the Nigerian legislature was fast wearing a rubber stamp outlook, Senate President Ahmad Lawan described it as laughable.
Lawan, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mohammed Isa, made this known while addressing a group, Women Parliamentarians, led by Senator Joy Emordi on Thursday in Abuja.
He noted that, believing in President Muhammadu Buhari’ s vision and that of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and his personality should not be misconstrued to mean that he is not independent mind.
According to him, “during my campaign, I was called a potential rubber stamp Senate President to the executive; may be because I am close to the President, or because I believe in his cause.
“There is no time that I will ever be a rubber stamp. Yes, I believe in President Buhari as a person and I believe in my party, the APC, but I believe that our problems as Nigerians are Nigerian problems. They are neither APC nor PDP problems, they are Nigerian problems, that require Nigerian solution. So, we have to work together.”
“We will be there for the executive arm of government all the time in moving this country forward .
“We are going to challenge the executive in a manner that is decent but decisive. As a Minister, you have to do your ministerial job well. We will make government appointees to do what is required of them.
“We have to deal with the issues confronting us. It is not going to be easy, but we have to build a relationship that have mutual respect, collaboration and partnership. It is achievable,” Lawan noted.
“We are not here for self serving. We came here with a lot of experiences to impact positively in our country. We are here and we will remain focus to make this government work”.
The Senate President seized the occasion to charged women to be more involved in politics, saying, “the political space in the country is wide enough to accommodate our women, but the ball is in their court to take the advantages”.
In her remarks, Senator Joy Emordi congratulated the Presiding Officers and the leadership of the 9th Senate for what she described as smooth transition, urging them to use their expertise to better the lots of Nigerians.
Emordi said the group was formed to give support where necessary to serving women in the parliament, adding that, “it is our objective to promote cordial relationship between the executive and legislature, and remove the boundaries on women participation in politics for good governance”.