By Orkula Shaagee, Abuja

For the first time since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, the House of Representatives was engulfed in crisis over the leadership of the minority parties in the lower chamber of the nation’s National Assembly.

Though it is common sight to see lawmakers engage in mace snatching and open fight right in the hallowed chamber over political differences, it was the first time in the history of the third arm of government to witness lawmakers engage in open confrontation over the election of minority principal officers in the green chamber.

Penultimate Wednesday, the House of Representatives was thrown into crisis that led to attempt by some aggrieved members to snatch the mace.

The action followed the alleged rejection of a letter by House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila from by the leadership of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nominating Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers State) as the Minority Leader, Chukwuma Onyema from Anambra as Deputy Minority Leader, Yakubu Barde from Kaduna State as Minority Whip and Muriano Ajibola from Oyo State as Deputy Minority Whip.

Gbajabiamila however read a letter he said was sent to him by minority parties in the House signed by 99 out of the 147 members nominating Ndudi Elumelu from Delta State as Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu from Enugu State as Deputy Minority Leader, Gideon Gwani as Minority Whip and Adesegun Adekoya as Deputy Minority Whip.

Despite intense protests from the opposition lawmakers, citing the various House rules to support their position, Gbajabiamila ruled them out and thereafter declared Elumelu and the others in his group as the House’s minority leaders.

Leading the protest, Chinda said the nomination of Elumelu and his gang as House minority leaders would not stand. He said series of inter-party meetings were held among the oppositio9n parties where all the issues of nomination were ratified.

“The issue is that of Minority leadership. It is the standard practice in parliament that minority leadership comes from among minority parties and the correspondence is always sent by the major minority party, in our case that was followed,” he said.

Reacting, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila sets up a committee to probe attempt at mace snatching.

At the resumption of plenary the following day, Chinda and his colleagues took over the designated seats for the minority officers, and this delayed the commencement of plenary traditionally billed for 11 in the morning.  Gbajabiamila’s procession, including his deputy, Idris Wase, and other minority officers, led by Elumelu, did not enter the chambers until 12:10.

The Peoples Democratic Party also condemned the action, saying, “Gbajabiamila exhibited personal hostility, with threats that Chinda would ‘regret’ taking his rightful seat as the bona fide Leader of the Minority in the House.

“This vicious outburst by Gbajabiamila is a direct threat and affront to our democratic order. The rights of the minority members in the House of Representatives, the people of Obio/Akpo Federal

“The PDP, in the strongest terms, condemns this outburst and demands the Speaker retract his inciting threats against Chinda within the next 24 hours,” its Spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said.

He also called on Nigerians to hold Gbajabiamila directly responsible should any harm suddenly come upon Chinda, any member of his family or any member of the PDP in the House of Representatives.

Ologbondiyan said, “The PDP also invites the police and the Department of State Services to summon Gbajabiamila to explain the intents of his threats.”

He stated that the PDP remained committed to rules and the sanctity of the parliament.

Consequently, the Peoples Democratic Party later suspended Ndudi Elumelu and six other members of the party in the House of Representatives for “indiscipline, insubordination and disobedience”.

The representative of  Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency, Osun State,  Wole Oke;  representative of  Onitsha North and Onitsha South Federal Constituency, Anambra State, Lynda Ikpeazu; representative of  Ezza North/Ishielu Federal Constituency,  Ebonyi State, Anayo Edwin; representative of Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, Gideon Gwani; representative of  Aninri/Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency, Enugu State, Toby Okechukwu; and representative of   Ijebu-North/Ijebu-East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency, Adekoya Abdul-Majid, were  the six other members of the party suspended.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, told reporters at a press conference in Abuja that the suspension was the outcome of the meeting of the PDP National Working Committee over the crisis that resulted from the struggle for the House of Representatives Minority Leader.

Ologbondiyan, who read the resolution of the NWC, said the committee reviewed the issues affecting the minority leadership of the House of Representatives.

He said the party noted the roles played by the affected Reps which resulted in the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, announcing the list of the  minority leadership of the House  different from the one submitted by the opposition party.

He said, “After the  preliminary examination by the NWC, it was evident that the roles played by the above mentioned members, bordered on indiscipline, insubordination and disobedience, contrary to Section 58 (1)(b)(c)(f)(h) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017).”

The Peoples Democratic Party also criticized the Speaker, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, for allegedly threatening the representative of Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House, Mr Kingsley Chinda.

The main opposition party asked the police and Department of State Services to summon the Speaker to explain himself.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Friday   said Gbajabiamila had no justification to allegedly threaten   the factional Minority Leader of the House after overruling him when he wanted to raise a point of order during Thursday’s plenary.

Gbajabiamila had blocked moves by some Peoples Democratic Party members, including Chinda, to raise issues relating to the parallel principal officers produced by the minority parties on Wednesday.

Ndudi Elumelu and Chinda had emerged as factional Minority Leaders, with the House recognizing the former.

Still not backing down on its stand to have Chinda and other nominees from the PDP to assume offices as House minority leaders, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) set up a five-member committee to intervene in the dispute over the emergence of Rep. Ndudi Elumelu as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

The Chairman of the BoT, Mr Walid Jibrin, announced the decision in Abuja after the board’s meeting at the party’s national headquarters.

Jibrin said that the committee, to be chaired by a former President of the Senate, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, had seven days to submit its report,

“We have decided to wade into the fracas in the House of Representatives as regards the minority leadership.

“To that effect, a committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Ayu. Other members of the committee include Sen. David Mark, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu, Sen. Adolphus Wabara and Hon. Austin Opara as Secretary of the Committee.

“They have been given a week to submit their report to the BoT and National Working Committee (NWC) thereafter, a decision would be taken”.

Jibrin said that the BoT as the conscience of the party would always work with the NWC to avoid any form of conflict within the party.

He said the board passed a vote of confidence on the judiciary and expressed the hope that court decisions would deepen democracy in the country.

“We agreed again that our party will play the role of opposition. We are in support of the process going on at the Supreme Court and thirdly we congratulate the judiciary for a job well done.

“We are very encouraged with the judges and if they continue, our democracy in Nigeria will be better.”

As the logjam persists despite prolong protests, media war and threats, we advise the nominees and the opposition political parties in the House to explore the option of engaging the Femi Gbajabiamila led leadership in the House to a dialogue to find the way forward and a lasting solution to the wrangling.

We are aware that being the first time since 1999 that the PDP is taking the position of the opposition party in the House leadership, it will be a bitter pill for the party to swallow the garbage being thrown at them by the APC-led leadership.