Lawmakers yesterday reacted angrily to the insistence by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha should be removed from office for allegedly defying the zoning formula of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying that the former president should stop interfering in the internal affairs of the House as he did when he was the president.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had at a meeting of the South West PDP reiterated his earlier call that the presiding officers of the House of Representatives should step down to allow for the PDP zoning formula which had ceded the speakership and deputy speakership positions to the South West and North East respectively.
But in an interview with Vanguard, members of the House dismissed his call as unnecessary interference which constitutes a distraction to the House of Representatives.
In his reaction, Chris Azubogu said the collective choice of the House as reflected in the speaker and the deputy cannot be wished away by an individual’s whims and caprice.
“Every body should stop interfering in the affairs of the House of Representatives. The house has made its choice. The people who made those choices are representatives of the people and if they make a choice, nobody should distract. We have had enough interference and should be allowed to do our job. We are a separate entity and should be allowed to pilot our affairs. We are not interested in the weak leadership that these outsiders want to impose on us,” he said.
In his reaction, Sokonte Davies said the House has gone beyond zoning, which is an internal affair of the PDP. According to him, “we have passed that stage. I think if zoning meant anything to members, they would have obeyed it. But on the basis of violation of the zoning principle, the House has gone past it and will not heed to it. If the PDP, to which they belong, finds it necessary to mete out any punishment on them, it might do so through its internal mechanisms and not to remove them,” he said.
Emmanuel Jime (PDP Benue) said “there is no sense in the call by the former president because the election of the speaker and the deputy speaker was based on their competence and not zoning.
“There is no sense in that. We voted Tambuwal and Ihedioha because they made themselves available and we felt that they were the best at that time. We were not necessarily guided by zoning rather by the constitution and our house rule. Why would he suggest that they should step down after two years? Have they done something wrong?
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayFormer President Olusegun Obasanjo had at a meeting of the South West PDP reiterated his earlier call that the presiding officers of the House of Representatives should step down to allow for the PDP zoning formula which had ceded the speakership and deputy speakership positions to the South West and North East respectively.
But in an interview with Vanguard, members of the House dismissed his call as unnecessary interference which constitutes a distraction to the House of Representatives.
In his reaction, Chris Azubogu said the collective choice of the House as reflected in the speaker and the deputy cannot be wished away by an individual’s whims and caprice.
“Every body should stop interfering in the affairs of the House of Representatives. The house has made its choice. The people who made those choices are representatives of the people and if they make a choice, nobody should distract. We have had enough interference and should be allowed to do our job. We are a separate entity and should be allowed to pilot our affairs. We are not interested in the weak leadership that these outsiders want to impose on us,” he said.
In his reaction, Sokonte Davies said the House has gone beyond zoning, which is an internal affair of the PDP. According to him, “we have passed that stage. I think if zoning meant anything to members, they would have obeyed it. But on the basis of violation of the zoning principle, the House has gone past it and will not heed to it. If the PDP, to which they belong, finds it necessary to mete out any punishment on them, it might do so through its internal mechanisms and not to remove them,” he said.
Emmanuel Jime (PDP Benue) said “there is no sense in the call by the former president because the election of the speaker and the deputy speaker was based on their competence and not zoning.
“There is no sense in that. We voted Tambuwal and Ihedioha because they made themselves available and we felt that they were the best at that time. We were not necessarily guided by zoning rather by the constitution and our house rule. Why would he suggest that they should step down after two years? Have they done something wrong?
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