There was mild drama at the plenary session of the House of Representatives on Wednesday when Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila and his deputy, Idris Wase, traded words in open confrontation over the adjournment of the sitting.
The quarrel started when Gbajabiamila directed the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hassan Fulata to include a few items on the agenda for tomorrow’s sitting, citing a need to close the ongoing plenary session before 2pm in order to attend the inauguration of the permanent site of the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
“Chairman Business and Rules, let’s make the Order Paper light for tomorrow because we have this NILDS commission; it is very important — the permanent site of the NILDS. It is at 2:30. So it will be good if we close by 2 pm,” he said.
After the speaker had given the order, Mr Wase raised a point of order questioning why the House would adjourn plenary just to witness the commissioning of a project instead of using the time to conclude the business of the 9th House ahead of the final adjournment of the House.
“Mr Speaker, I am getting to see this getting so funny, and we have lost quite a number of times. For the commissioning of projects, for God’s sake, why do we have to shelve a lot of activities that we have just to go and witness the commissioning of a project of NILDS? I want to beg, sir that we should do our functions.
“Those who have the interest to go, they have the right to. But our main primary function is this parliament and making the citizens a priority,” he stated.
The point of order raised by Wase led to serious back and forth between the duo.
“Perhaps DS (Deputy Speaker), you don’t appreciate the importance of NILDS like some of us do. I think NILDS is very important,” Mr Gbajabiamila told his deputy.
Mr Wase, who was at this point on his feet, interrupted the speaker and said “I have every information and idea of what NILDS is.”
But Gbajabimaila in a swift response said, “It was set up by this same institution by statute. We are not adjourning the House to go to NILDS. What I said was, let’s try and make it light and leave here by 2pm, If you want, we can resume by 10am, We will do our work, but we will adjourn this House at 2pm and I will witness NILDS because it is important to me.”
Wase interrupted Gbajabiamila again, noting that, “The parliament is about us, not about I.”
The speaker who was now quite beside himself noted that this sort of confrontation is unheard of in the history of the House of Representatives.
“Mr Deputy Speaker, this is the first time in history – I have been in this House for many years, perhaps even longer than anybody here – this is the first time in history that a deputy speaker will be challenging what the speaker is saying,” he said.
