Posted by By JAMES OJO, Abuja on
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, pulled a fast one on Tuesday, as he dissolved the 72 committees he inherited from his predecessor, Mrs Olubunmi Etteh.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, pulled a fast one on Tuesday, as he dissolved the 72 committees he inherited from his predecessor, Mrs Olubunmi Etteh.
Subsequently, he directed leaders of the main political parties in the House, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Action Congress (AC) to forward names of their floor members to serve on the new selection committee.
This was a radical departure from the norm, whereby the selection committee was largely populated by principal officers.
Bankole, who adjourned the House till April 8, told his colleagues to forward the names to his office, so that the new committees would be ready before the resumption of plenary from the Easter break.
The Speaker said that the purpose for the reconstitution of the standing committees was to enable the House look at the structure of the committees and ensure that the right people were put in the right committees.
The selection committee is to use the three-week recess to conclude its assignment preparatory to April 8, when the House will reconvene.
Like his predecessor did before constituting the committee, Bankole also directed each member of the House to indicate five committees in which they prefer to serve, but with a warning that the leadership would no longer tolerate a situation whereby some members belonged to as much as eight committees, while others belong to just two.
'We have discovered that some members belong to as many as eight committees whereas some have as low as two. This is unacceptable to the leadership and we shall reverse that practice," he noted.
The speaker gave assurance that in constituting the new committees, it would be ensured that round pegs were put in round holes because the House was going to become more active in the days ahead.
As a follow up, the House Committee on Rules and Business has requested for memoranda from members to enable it review standing orders of the House.
According to the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Hon Ezuiche Ubani, the memoranda are to be submitted on or before the end of March.
He said that the impending restructuring of committees and the rules of the House had become necessary because of the new direction of the House to place competence and productivity above mediocrity.
He said: 'The more reason this is happening now is because the direction of the House now requires a level of competence. There are people who have competence in various areas.
So, one of the things the selection committees will do is to look for people with competence in certain areas to track the budget.
'You know conventionally, it is the Speaker that chairs the selection committee of every parliament. But members will come from the floor to look at the structure of the committee to ensure that there is a bit of balance in the composition of the new standing committees," he said.
'So, the idea is to get these people and make sure that they put them in appropriate committees in the House so that they will give the House maximum productivity. By the time we resume, the House is expected to become much more active in terms of the agenda it has set for itself."