Crisis looms in Senate over committee Chairmen’s incompetence
The relative peace being enjoyed in the 9th Senate under the leadership of Ahmed Lawan may soon be short lived as trouble appears to be brewing in the Senate; over the leadership style of some standing committee Chairmen of the Red Chambers as members have expressed their complaints over what they described as the high handedness of the Chairmen in running the commitee affairs.
According to members, some of the committee Chairmen were living like “Lords” and have left a vast majority of them disenfranchised.
Competent knowledgeable sources said the Chairmen of the said committees have debarred majority of the members of the committees from carrying out their duties by refusing to carry them along with the committee’s activities. They also vowed to commence impeachment proceedings against the said committee Chairmen if the Senate President does not replace the Chairmen to avert the huge looming crisis, which according to them will mark the beginning of crisis in the 9th Senate.
The alleged commitees are: Army led by Senator Abdullahi Ali Ndume (Borno South) Customs,Excise and Tariff led by Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) ,Banking and Finance led by Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna Central) , Police Affairs led by Senator Haliru Jika (Bauchi central ),Upstream petroleum led by Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, and Marine led by Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central)
Expressing their grievances,they accused the chairmen of solely running the affairs of the committee, turning deaf ears to the series of complaints laid by members and refusal to reach out to them.
They warned that the Senate risks a huge crisis explosion if nothing is done to address the ugly trend.
One of the sources said: “ it’s unfortunate that these Chairmen are living like “Lords” since their inauguration, they rarely call for meetings most of us don’t even know what is going on in the commitees. Now that budget defense is on-going no meeting has been called for us as members to sit and discuss on areas of focus. So, how are we expected to scrutinize these Federal agencies when they appear for budget defense?. Things can’t continue this way if the Senate does not intervene we shall be left with no other option than to impeach the Chairmen”.
Although some of the members revealed that they have made efforts to reach out to the Chairmen but they have made themselves unreachable and in most cases refused to heed to their appeals.
“Yes we are loyal to the Senate President but we can’t continue to suffer in silence and allow our constitutional roles to be undermined. The Chairmen seem to have forgotten that they can be removed maybe that is why we are being underrated. Our nation is faced with so many challenges and these commitees is an opportunity to address those challenges. We need Chairmen who are team players.” Said the source.
Another competent source in the National Assembly confirmed plans by members of the commitee to impeach the Chairmen if the Senate President decline to reshuffle the Chairmen Warrireporters gathered.
