APC resolves rift among its Reps’ members

• Gbajabiamila, Monguno agree to work with Dogara
• Speaker seeks donor confab for North-East over B’Haram

IN a bid to ensure delivery of democracy dividends, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has resolved the rift among its members in the House of Representatives over the election of Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

The Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party met yesterday with Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila and those in support of his aspiration to be Speaker of the House of Representatives for about two hours at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

Gbajabiamila, who was the preferred candidate of the party, told reporters after the parley that Dogara would enjoy the support of his group.

e said: “We came to meet with the party. We just had an election in the House; so we came to meet with the party regarding the outcome of the election and the party is going to remain strong and united so that we can deliver the deliverables and the programmes of the party through the House.

“We will work with the leadership of the House and with the Speaker for as long as the party’s programmes are properly articulated and pursued on the floor of the House. He’s an APC member; he’s not the Speaker of the APC but the Speaker of the whole House, so we will work with him.”

Asked whether he is considering heading to the court, as was the case with the Senator Ahmed Lawan group, he said: “I don’t know about the Senate, I only know about the House. Nothing happened in the House, we had an election; it’s different from the Senate. In the Senate, people were deprived of their fundamental rights to express themselves and vote, but we had an election in the House.”

On the position of the party to take disciplinary measure against errant members, he said: “That is the prerogative of the party, all I know is that in every association there must be discipline and whatever the party decides to do, that’s for the party, it’s not for me to speak about.”
Gbajabiamila ‘s deputy in the race, Alhaji Mohammed Tahir Monguno, confirmed the development.

He said as loyal members of the party, they are left with no choice but to comply with the directive to support Speaker Dogara in the interest of Nigerians.

“We are here to meet with the party leadership who have urged us to remain loyal and support the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to be able to deliver its promises to the Nigerian people. We have been urged not to take any step that is in contradiction with the wishes of the government, that we must not do anything that would derail the performance of the APC administration. We have resolved to do as the party wishes.”

He expressed support over the party’s stance on disciplinary measures against errant party members so as to serve as a deterrent to others in future.

Malam Sani Zorro, who is among lawmakers that accompanied Gbajabiamila, described the emergence of Dogara as one of the political “tremors of the 21st Century which has opened up dramas and a lot of surprises in many lands.”

Meanwhile, indication has emerged that the House of Representatives is soon to propose an international donor conference to the Federal Government, specifically for the rehabilitation and rebuilding of north-eastern region currently under siege by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara who gave the indication in Abuja yesterday while addressing members from the zone who paid him a congratulatory visit, said there was need for a legislation that would galvanise both local and international financial support for the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the affected areas, as well as victims of the insurgence.

He said: “We from the North-East need to craft a motion to suggest to the federal government to convene an international donor conference for the purpose of the Northeast which has been ravaged by insurgency. I want this motion to be sponsored by a member from the region so as to call on the Federal Government to convene such a conference to raise funds for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of our region, most especially, the states most affected by Boko Haram.

“We cannot afford to wait for the federal government to take the initiative which is why we as Representatives of our people need to show the way by suggesting it to Mr. President. As you know, there is no single region without a problem requiring his urgent attention. So we must do everything within our powers to bring succour to the long suffering people of the North-East.”