| By John Ameh | |
| Sunday, 18 Sep 2011 |
The fate of prominent members of the House of Representatives from Lagos State, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and Ms. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, now hangs in the balance, owing to a power tussle within the Action Congress of Nigeria caucus in the House.
Dabiri-Erewa, a three-time lawmaker, was left out of the distribution of chairmen of the standing committees of the House by the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, lastThursday.
Okoya-Thomas also suffered a similar fate, as she was not assigned to any committee.
The two are the most senior women in the House in terms of legislative experience.
Dabiri-Erewa had previously served as the Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Affairs. In the last House, she was also the Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora.
Okoya-Thomas had served as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Public Procurement.
Furthermore, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the two women were allegedly engaged in a power tussle with the Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Incidentally, the three lawmakers are from Lagos State.
Sources said the women and Gbajabiamila had often disagreed on how the caucus should take a position on issues before the House.
“They frequently disagree bitterly; the ACN leader feels that the women ridicule him by consistently opposing him and he sees the appointment of committee Chairmen as payback time,” a source close to the parties, told SUNDAY PUNCH.
It was gathered that Tambuwal wanted to give chairmanship positions to the women but later backed down due to pressure from the ACN leadership.
“Up till Thursday morning, the disagreement persisted. Dabiri-Erewa and Okoya-Thomas’ names were on the list, but the ACN leader continued to kick against the idea.
“The speaker later caved in to pressure and did not announce the women’s names while naming the committee chairmen,” the source added.
On the committee list, it was discovered that Tambuwal crossed out Dabiri-Erewa and Okoya-Thomas’ names with a pencil.
Dabiri-Erewa was number 55 on the list and the Committee on Diaspora was printed against her name.
Okoya-Thomas was number 56, with Committee on Public Procurement in her name.
“Because Tambuwal and the ACN leadership could not resolve the dispute, that was why he used a pencil to strike out their names.
“The ACN leader had offered replacements for the two women, but Tambuwal overruled him, expressing hope that more consultations could resolve the matter,” the source stated.
When she was contacted for her reaction, Dabiri-Erewa said she was not “desperate for any committee appointment.”
“I am a woman of principle and integrity; if it is true that the ACN leader is expecting me to come and apologise to him over what I don’t know, it is not possible,” she told SUNDAY PUNCH on the telephone.
But, Gbajabiamila tried to play down the quarrel between him and the women, denying that there was a power tussle “or anything personal” between him and them.
He admitted that all that he did was to ensure “equal distribution of committee chairmanship positions” among members of his caucus.
He said, “It was not a personal clash; there is nothing as such; my action was to ensure that whatever positions allocated to my caucus were distributed equitably.
“Any way, the matter has been resolved; there are three more committees left and the chairmen will be announced next week.
“Everybody will be happy; there will be no more problems.”
SOURCE: Sunday Punch, 18 September 2011. http://punchontheweb.com
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