Bankole plots against impeachment, woos Reps

Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 23.06.2008

SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, has lined up a number of items with which he hopes to win over the members of the House who were unhappy with some of his actions.

The Speaker was in the eye of the storm last week following the controversy over a N400 million bill in the house.

It was confirmed at the weekend that the Speaker was set to release the list of members of the Committee on Constitution Review as a way of winning back some members who had complained that they were sidelined.

It was also gathered that the Speaker will take another look at the composition of committees during the week, while he was said to be prepared to enter into direct talks with the enlarged Selection Committee he set up earlier.

A source said that the composition of House committees had become contentious, as the incumbent committee chairmen believe that it would not be in the nation’s interest for them to be asked to leave their current committees halfway into the year.

“Many of us have worked with the respective ministries during the budgetary process, the committee chairmen and members are already conversant with the details of the budgetary provisions of the ministries, and removing them at this time would mean that the work they have done is being set back,” a member told the Nigerian Tribune.

A source said that the Speaker was caught between two groups of agitators. While a group of members is agitating that he leaves the committees intact for now, members of the Integrity Group, which battled his predecessor, Honourable Patricia Etteh, out of office, are now agitating that the time was ripe for the dissolution of the committees.

According to sources, members of that group are moving to be compensated after they had secured victory for Bankole in November 2007.

“The complaints really is that the Speaker is tightfisted and that he doesn’t give approvals, but the man is being careful with money, having learnt from the travails of his predecessor,” a house source said on Saturday.

It was gathered that Bankole had decided to have heart to heart talks with members of the selection committee as well as selected members who are seen as arrowheads of the brewing crisis, after which a final decision would be taken on the committees.

“The speaker is of the view that he should not be dictatorial about the structuring of the committees, since there are two sides to a coin. An amicable solution is in sight,” another source in the House said.

Meanwhile, a crack has occurred among members of the House of Representatives who are spearheading the plot to unseat Bankole.

It was gathered on Sunday that the two main actors in the impeachment bid are now at loggerheads following disagreements on the management of the funds meant for the anti-Bankole campaign.