Thursday, July 31, 2008

Bankole sacks 69 committee chairmen, deputies

Bankole sacks 69 committee chairmen, deputies

Published: Aug, 1 2008

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, on Thursday, formally dissolved the membership of 69 out of the 72 standing committees of the House.

Bankole specifically said that the development meant that the chairmen and deputies of the affected committees had been relieved of their duties.

The only committees whose members were spared for now were those of Finance, Business and Rules and the Committee on Appropriation.

Bankole explained that the committees had been reconstituted but kept the list of new members to himself saying that he would release it in September.

The speaker announced the removal of the chairmen of the committees shortly before the House proceeded on a five-week recess that would terminate on September 9.

The lawmakers also passed an amendment Appropriation Act of N2.6tn for 2008, which President Umaru Yar’Adua sent to the National Assembly on Thursday.

The dissolution of the committees had followed several months of speculations and tension in the House as some chairmen had reportedly vowed to fight the Bankole leadership if they were sacked.

Between June and July, the House had remained largely unstable owing to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the chairmen and the plot by some other lawmakers to take-over their positions.

It was the first time since Bankole assumed office in November 2007 that he dissolved the committees, seen as the engine room of legislative duties, would be reshuffled.

The committee members were inherited from his predecessor, Mrs. Patricia Etteh.

Many committees were alleged not to be working due to reports that members opted to chase after certain committees considered as “juicy” at the expense of the assignments of their own committees.

It was also found that while certain powerful lawmakers belonged to as many as 12 committees, there were members who had no committees at all.

Investigations also showed that many lawmakers were in the “wrong” committees as they had little knowledge of the duties of the committees, thereby rendering themselves redundant.

Due to lack of proper coordination, most committees consistently failed to submit reports on assignments given to them by the House.

The poor performance of the committees affected the number of bills the House passed into law in the last session which ended on June 3.

Out of the 65 bills before the House as at June, only 11 had been passed into law.

Worried by the record, Bankole had observed, “Painfully, in lawmaking, we are not doing well.”

Yar’Adua initially proposed a budget of N2.4trn but the National Assembly jacked it up to N2.8trn and later reduced it to N2.7trn.

However, following a consensus said to have been reached between him and lawmakers, both sides had agreed that he should forward an amendment to the legislature.

Last month, the President sent the amendment to the National Assembly, further slashing the budget to N2.6trn.

No comments: