By Emman Ovuakporie
The House of Representatives’ Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday lambasted the Rules and Business Committee of the House for not doing its job properly leading to confusion in the House during plenaries.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the Speaker apparently peeved with the committee regretted the incidence of repetition of matters listed on the order papers, even though they had been taken at previous sittings also called for a change of personnel handling the listing if necessary.
Drama started on the floor of the House when Hon. Kolade Victor Akinjo (PDP, Ondo), moved a motion on notice on the ‘Need to Investigate the Concession of Some Airports in Nigeria, praying the House to critically look into the terms and conditions of the concession agreements.
However, upon moving his motion and the secondment for debate, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Ademora Adekuye, Shomolu Federal Constituency of Lagos State, informed the House that the matter had earlier been treated and referred by the House to the Committee on Aviation.
“This motion has earlier been brought and the matter referred to committee on Aviation. The chairman committee on Aviation set up a sub-committee headed by Hon. Linda Ikpeazu who has invited all the parties concerned in this matter.
The report of that committee has been submitted to the committee on Aviation and I am sure this matter is already been dealt with. I want to pray that this matter be stepped down because it is already been looked at”, Hon. Kuye told the House.
The presiding Speaker, who queried the rationale for listing a matter that the committee knew had been dealt with, saying that it suggests a fundamental problem.
“There is a problem. The Business and Rules is saddled with the responsibility of listing matters on the order paper and the same Business and Rules not once, not twice, would always say that matter is already taken, so why did you list it? Why was it listed? That means the Business and Rules is not doing its job. Whoever is supposed to be doing his job, whoever is supposed to be doing it.
“Hon Kuye is there a problem with how Business and Rules work? They would put something on the order paper and come out and say the matter has already been considered. So we can know how to address the process in Business and Rules,” Gbajabiamila said.
The deputy chairman, Hon Kuye again responded, saying: “We cannot deny the fact that we have little issues here and there in the committee but we are looking at it to make sure that this kind of thing is dealt with.”
“Do you have a computerized system”?
Gbajabiamila asked, with Hon. Kuye responding in the affirmative. “We do.”
Gbajabiamila, again asked as to “why is it difficult to just do a search by punching in a number and it would bring you all the issues? If you put in airport motions, you should be able to see every motion that has come up.”
Responding Kuye said: “Mr Chairman of the committee is doing his best. In fact just recently we had a training for the officers and the Secretariat and we will continue to do that until it becomes what we want them to be.”
“At what point does it get to you? Gbajabiamila asked, saying: Who are the people listing these matters? Is it your staff, because if you want us to change the staff around we will, since they are making your job difficult.”
Kuye again, defended: “No sir. We would look at it. We would address it.”
“So you are saying for a fact that this matter is being investigated and a report is already with the committee,”
Gbajabiamila queried further.
The visibly troubled Kuye responded saying that “the report is already there Sir. The chairman of the committee was Hon Linda Ikepazu. I was a member of the committee. The minister for Aviation was invited. The Labour Union of the Aviation sector, FAAN, all of them. They made presentations.”
Asked to make further inputs, the mover of the troublesome motion, Hon Akinjo, noted that “Without prejudice to the assertion of my dear colleagues. At the level of the committee on Privatization and Commercialization (which he chairs), we got torrents of petition as it concerns the concession of the national assets. In view of the fact that those important institutions saddled with the law to handle commercialization and concession particularly BPE and ICRC that they are not informed.”
At this point, the Speaker told the committee deputy chairman that: “These are problems you cause in Business and Rules,” just as he tried to douse the tension by guiding the mover of the motion on the specifics of his subject matter.
“Your motion Hon Victor is very specific on airports. It was not on national assets. It was on airports. So this is a case of overlapping mandate, is what you are trying to say. We cannot say that the committee on Aviation does not have jurisdiction, neither can we say your committee does not have jurisdiction. It might even be the one with primary jurisdiction being the committee on Privatization and Commercialization,” the Speaker noted.