An aspiring spokesperson for the House of RepresentativesYusuf Gagdi says he will prevent the lower house’s standing committees from depending on federal agencies to finance their oversight activities.
Gagdi said this while unveiling his campaign manifesto at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja on Saturday.
Although he did not give more details about how the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) do the financing, the legislator, who chairs the Navy committee, said that it is an aberration of democratic practice and contrary to the principle of the 1999 constitution.
The constitution guarantees the financial autonomy of the National Assembly. It is placed in the front line position in the federal budget. However, House committees routinely draw financial and logistical support from the MDAs they oversee in the course of their official duties.
“It’s not a good use of resources for the House to spend all its time on settlement bills. It is an aberration of democratic practice for the National Assembly oversight committees to rely on the executive agencies under their purview to finance oversight activities,” Gagdi said.
Gagdi, who represents the Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constituency of Plateau state, said he plans to start a discussion on how parliament should work.
He acknowledged that the federal parliament has yet to meet Nigeria’s expectations after 24 years of uninterrupted democracy.
He also promised to open up the Chamber’s activities to ensure transparency and accountability.
“The manifesto that I present to you today articulates the internal reforms of the House of Representatives that I intend to carry out as president, as well as the political priorities that I intend to defend through the legislative process.
“I am presenting this document today because I want to start a national conversation about what should be the proper role of parliament in our country.
“Twenty-four years since the return to democracy, the Nigerian people rightly expect more from their parliamentary representatives. The ability of the House of Representatives to effectively meet those expectations depends on the quality, ability, and dedication of the members who serve in parliament. It also depends on how the internal operations of the Chamber are structured, designed and financed.
“We need to open the operations of the House of Representatives to the Nigerian people so they understand why we exist and why scarce resources are worth spending on our operations,” he said.
Gagdi also vowed to democratize the House’s activities by “ensuring that the private voices of our country have an audience in the chamber and representation in the halls of the legislature. We need to make the House of Representatives a venue for intelligent, patriotic speech and enlightened, informed decision-making.”
‘Northwest, Northeast have had their fair share’
Speaking on zoning, Mr. Gagdi said that Mr. Tinubu and the APC should be fair to the center-north when zoning the region’s president position.
Logo of the Congress of All Progressives (APC)
He said the Northwest and Northeast have held the position for a combined 16-year term, so the North-Central should be favored.
“I want that same spirit of fairness, fairness, and fairness to come through in the election of the 10th Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“We have six geopolitical zones, in the North, we have three, the Northwest, the Northeast and the North-central. These three have shown that North-west had Ghali Na’Abba, Salisu Buhari, Aminu Masari and Tambuwal as spokespersons.
“The Northeast had our brother, Dogara as Spokesperson, but from 1999 to date, the Center-North does not have a single Spokesperson.
“I urge our president-elect, who is a headhunter, who is a Democrat, to support the party in placing the spokesperson in the north and in the same spirit of fairness, fairness and equity that was displayed in the 2023 presidential election. .to be zoned for the center-north which has never produced the loudspeaker from 1999 to date…”, he said.
Gagdi asked the president-elect to follow the example of the northern governors who fought for the shift of power to the south during the APC presidential primaries.
“Our President Elect, I am following in his footsteps as someone elected based on his potential, based on his record, based on what he means to Nigerians.
“I can’t remember as an APC member where Mr. President-elect was endorsed as a consensus candidate for our party, no.
“It was only zoned in the southern part of Nigeria. I pay my respects to the governors of the north who came out at that time to say that the north has produced presidents for 8 years,” he said.
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Gagdi is one of 11 applicants vying for the position. The others are incumbent Vice President, Idris Wase (Plateau), Sada Soli (Katsina), Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna), Muktar Betara (Borno) Tunji Olawuyi (Kwara), Abubakar Makki (Jigawa), Aminu Jaji (APC, Zamfara), Ben Kalu (Abia), Ado Doguwa (Kano) and Miriam Onuoha (Imo).
However, indications are emerging that Tinubu and APC have settled on some of the hopefuls.
Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) and Ben Kalu (APC, Abia) have reportedly been appointed as speaker and co-speaker respectively.