allAfrica.com: Nigeria: National Assembly - Reps And Unfinished Business (Page 1 of 1)

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the House of Representatives will resume plenary Tuesday next week to be faced with a number of unfinished businesses, chief of which are the reconstitution of its dissolved standing committees, what to do with the power probe report and the continuation of theprobe of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), its subsidiaries and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

It will also attempt to tackle the burning issue of the Niger Delta for which it has raised a special ad-hoc committee headed by former House Leader, Rep. Abdul Ningi. Apart from that, it should begin to lay out its strategy to combine with Senate in the review of the 1999 Constitution which must necessary come to the fore with the completion of the setting up of committees by both chambers for the purpose.

It would be recalled that Speaker Dimeji Bankole left the dissolution of the committees till the last moment before the members went on the present recess even though the action had been on the card for quite a while before the holiday. One thing he said then was that, the Selection Committee headed by him had concluded work on the new-look committees but stopped short of revealing the outcome of the Selection Committee's decision.

Now that the members would be back to the House with no committees on ground except three including Appropriation, Finance and Rules and Business, the first major task Bankole would embark upon would be to announce the appointment of the chairmen and members of the about 70 committees whose manner of reconstitution would set the tone for further activities of the House.

It is not expected to be an easy ride but Bankole is already priming himself for some turbulent days ahead because as always, it would be impossible for him to the meet the expectations of all 360 members of the legislature. While there were exceptional results from some of the committees, most of them were at best redundant not because of lack of opportunities or motivation to perform their jobs but more because of their lack of demonstrable creativity or proactive instincts in the exercise of their oversight functions. Some of the chairmen and members embarked on assignments underlined by less than altruistic intentions which attracted some disdain from members or the organizations they had dealings with.

But more disturbing was their poor attitude towards in-house assignments. Speaker Bankole had on several occasions complained about the lack of a sense of urgency on the part of some committees who had a knack for delaying the procedures of parliament due to their failure to submit reports of investigations on matters referred to them. It was not uncommon for him to call up 10 committees at a given sitting to submit their reports for consideration and none would be ready at deadline.

This was a situation that obviously often frustrated him. With this in mind, he has shown his preparedness to go ahead with the changes that he considers necessary to revive and re-focus the committees for effectiveness he craves. But as indicated above, this would be fraught with dangers that may lead to incidents capable of shaking the very foundation of his exalted position. We have seen such situations in the past where powerful members who either fail to get chairmanship positions or the particular committees they desire would raise hell.

Even if their action may not be overtly related to the committee reconstitution, it would provide the undercurrents for the possible mobilization of support against the Speaker. Indications are that Bankole has braced up himself for attacks and appeared set to weather any gathering storm.

Before then, he would have to decide what to do with the report of the Power and Steel Committee which probed the alleged waste of over $16billion on unrealized power projects in the days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

That the report prepared by the Rep. Ndudi Elumelu-led committee has become a subject of controversy is no longer news. What is vitally important now is how the House restores its credibility which seemed to be tainted by various issues that have come out over the it, including speculations of the committee members being compromised which Elumelu had sought to disprove, that too many sacred cows had been touched by its recommendations which therefore means that the report may not see the light of day, that the Speaker was not taken into confidence at the writing of the report, among others.

Again, the directive from the Bankole for the House Committee on Ethics and Privilege to investigate the allegations of bribery against the Power and Steel Committee members has not been carried out because of the dissolution of the Ethics and Privilege Committee on whose action the continuation of the process of the power probe now depends. That in itself leaves a question mark on the submission of the report. However, these have not discouraged Bankole from pledging at several occasions to ensure its submission and consideration by the House in plenary knowing how eagerly Nigerians have anticipated the outcome. There is no reason to suggest that he would not follow through on this promise.

Doubts have also been cast on the NNPC/DPR investigations suspended to enable the lawmakers to go for the recess. Members of the committee especially its co-chairmen had been drawn on account of their positions in the now dissolved committees, which essentially removed their basis of remaining in the ad-hoc committee as co-chairmen. It is probable that they return to their previous appointments to enable them to conclude the assignment given the extent to which they have worked.

Against indications given by the House leadership that it would be expecting too much to think of drastic changes for the standing committees, one could say with some measure of certainty that the key actors will return to their previous positions. An anti climax may therefore be in the offing as far as the committees are concerned but whatever it is, the House is faced with hectic times ahead as it resumes its unfinished business.

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