TVCE (ABUJA) – A fresh crisis is brewing in Nigeria’s House of Representatives.
Eleven members have dragged the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to court over the recent amendment to the House standing rules.
National Assembly Correspondent Joke Adisa reports that since the emergence of Dogara as Speaker, some legislators outside his camp are still aggrieved, an indication that all is not well within the ranks of the eighth House of Representatives.
First, crisis brewed over the composition of the Standing Committees of the House of Representatives and now, the subject of battle has shifted to the recently amended rules of the House.
It would be recalled that some of the members openly rejected the headship of committees as released by the Speaker, citing alleged victimization.
Now, eleven federal lawmakers are the arrowhead of a legal battle to stop the Speaker from unilaterally suspending any member attempting to seize the mace during crises as recently witnessed.
The Ethics and privileges Committee is statutorily vested with the responsibility of making recommendations which will be considered by the larger House.
Sunday Adepoju is one of the “Super Eleven” and he says the legal action is for posterity
He was initially a member of the ad-hoc committee mandated to review the Standing rules and Adepoju insists the controversial amendment empowering the Speaker to suspend any perceived erring member for as much as one or two months, was smuggled in.
But another member of the same committee disagrees. The House had on October the eight, 2015 adopted the report of its ad-hoc committee which reviewed the House Standing Orders.
Part of the adopted recommendation vested the Speaker with the powers to suspend any member that approaches the mace with whatever intent.
