Dogara may name 91 Reps committee chairmen, deputies today

THERE were indications yesterday that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara may today , announce the appointment of chairmen and their deputies for the over 90 standing committees of the House .

It was learnt that the Selection Committee, headed by the Speaker with all principal officers as members and representatives of the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) has concluded its assignment with a final meeting to put finishing touches on the names , held last week.

The selection panel was inaugurated on August 11, 2015 . Chairman of the House ad hoc committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sani Zorro told journalists that the committee continued work , even during the yearly recess.

Delay in the constitution of the various committees had been attributed to several factors, including: paucity of funds, the absence of heads of ministries and the protracted crisis which engulfed the lower chamber shortly after inauguration over the choice of principal officers.

It was gathered that intense lobbying had been going on, particularly during the six week-recess as members jostle to get appointed into particular committees considered juicy such as House Services, Finance, Appropriation, Customs and Excise, Banking and Currency.

Others are FCT, Works, Interior, Police, Defence, Housing, Petroleum, Gas and Local Content.

There has also been a scramble for Army, Air Force, Foreign Affairs, Navy, Public Accounts, Judiciary, National Planning, Agriculture, Industries and Anti-corruption committees.

But a member of the Selection Committee had last month disclosed that because of the absence of a new rule book for the House, the selection of the members of the various panels would be delayed until new rules were approved in October.

The member said for any of the committees of the parliament to exist, lawmakers are required to adopt a report on a set of new rules with the recommendations therein.

However, another member of the committee who craved anonymity last weekend said standing committees allocated to each of the six geopolitical zones have completed.

According to him: “When we meet this week, we shall be picking chairmen, deputies and members of all the committees.

“At the meeting we held on Wednesday, the distribution of committees to the various zones was approved. That has been done and the next stage is choosing the chairmen. I think this will no longer take us too much time.”

While the source would not give further insight into the committee distribution amongst the states and geopolitical zones, it was learnt that “the least number of committee a geopolitical zone may get will be seven.”

It would be recalled that Dogara in August declared that not all members should expect to be appointed chairmen or deputy chairmen of committees .