Crisis brews in Speaker Abbas camp as Loyalists scramble for juicy Committees

Now that the elections are over, it is time for reward and compensation with juicy committees but there are appear to be crisis in the camp of the Joint Task of the 10th Assembly with fears that the center can no longer hold.

The joint task comprise of members of the House of Representatives who championed the emergence of Hon Tajudeen Abbas and Hon Benjamin Kalu as Speaker and deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives as initiated by the former speaker Femi Gbajabiamila who is now the chief of staff to president Tinubu.

Majority of the lawmakers had thrown their weight behind the candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC Abbas and Kalu .

They lawmakers had vowed to respect the decision of the majority party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), on zoning of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions.

The coalition at the initial stage comprises of members from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP) .

The opposition party all threw their weight behind the APC Candidate watering the role of the opposition in the House for the next four years .

Africangazette.net in its findings revealed that the scramble for the chairman and membership of juicy committees as expected is dividing the once united joint task apart.

Usman Bello-Kumo (APC, Gombe) and Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), the chairman and co-chairman of the group had disclosed in a statement announcing its debut.

Some of the juicy committees include Appropriations, Finance, Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force, Police Affairs, National Security and Intelligence, Customs and Excise, and Ports and Harbours, NIMASA, Banking and Currency, Health, Education, Agriculture, Ecological Funds, Public Accounts among others.

A member who pleaded anonymity while speaking to Africangazette.net said the House is divided over who gets what in the 10th Assembly.

There expect to be drama on the 4th of July as the Speaker would be announcing committees and their chairmanship and membership any moment after the House reconvene.

loyalists in the Joint Task are in a conflict of interest already.

sources told Africangazette.net that the “Joint Task” is in a fix as both ranking and new members in the ruling party and opposition are saying they have equal stake in the emergence of speaker and sharing of Committees membership and headship should be done equitably.

A ranking member from the ruling APC said all is not well in the Joint Task as the new lawmakers are not being patient to allow their returning colleagues to head sensitive committees while they are made members or deputy at most.

The lawmaker who does not want to be mentioned said surprisingly, even members of the opposition, including the very minority parties like LP, NNPP, amongst others are eyeing not just membership but leadership of Committees which are reserved for the ruling party – APC.

“The centre seems not to be holding since the election of Abbas and Kalu ,We just hope that things do not fall apart amongst members of the Joint Task. The struggle for juicy Committee is tearing us apart he said

Recall that Soeajer Abbas and Benjamin Kalu emerged with over three hundred votes, the first in the history of the National Assembly leaving the former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase and Aminu Jaji with only three votes each .

The opposition parties in the House built their tent with the APC by supporting the candidates of the Party in what Many believe will kill the voices of opposition lawmakers just like the 9th House of Representatives.

Though analysts have argued that what interest these lawmakers most is the quest for juicy committees to suit their personal interest as against the interest of the electorates who voted them in.

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