In what appeared as a major
embarrassment, many of the guests invited to a second year anniversary of the
8th Nigerian House of Representatives stayed away from the event. Those who
apparently boycotted the celebration included governors, former Speakers and
ex-members of the lower legislative body.
Among the political figures in
attendance at the legislative celebration were Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi of
Ondo State, former Speaker Umar Ghali Na'aba, and former Deputy Speaker
Babangida Nguroje.
The House had invited President
Muhammadu Buhari as a special guest of honor, but the ailing president remains
in Britain where he is receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.
Remarkably, acting President Yemi Osinbajo did not attend to represent Mr.
Buhari. Other invited guests included the Chief Justice of the Federation,
Walter Onnoghen, and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor
Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.
Among other no-shows at the event
were former members of the House who are now serving as governors. They
included Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto
State, Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu
State.
It was learnt that those invited
to the poorly attended ceremony included all former Speakers of the House,
former Deputy Speakers, former Majority Leaders, former Minority Leaders,
former Chief Whips, former Clerks of National Assembly, and members of the
diplomatic corps.
Briefing reporters, the Deputy
Chief Whip of the House, Pally Iriase, disclosed that N35 million was budgeted
for the second year anniversary events, adding that two-thirds of the money
would be spent on media coverage. He remarked that the House had considered the
country’s tough economic circumstances in deciding not to spend too much money
celebrating the event.
Some mild drama nearly disrupted
the event as members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)
raised their voices to protest what they described as the failure of Speaker
Yakubu Dogara of the House of Reps to recognize their president, Chinonso
Obasi. The student group accused the speaker of bias in recognizing a leader of
a factional student group. Security agents moved in and removed from the
protesting students from the chamber.
Josh Amupitan, a professor of
law, delivered the keynote titled “Image Perception of the Legislature:
Causes and Possible Solutions,” while the chairman of the editorial board of
ThisDay newspapers, Segun Adeniyi, presented a lecture on “Appraisal of two
years of the 8th House Legislative Agenda.”
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How do you expect there to be unity when some members from the North ganged up together to reject what could have brought unity in the bill for South East Development Commission. This bill have been accepted and passed to douse the tension in the South-eastern part of the country, but, everyone is playing ostrich to the bill. We're sitting on the keg of gun powder.
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