Reacting to the development, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party slammed President Muhammadu Buhari, saying “the disgraceful act” in the House was a direct consequence of President Buhari’s lack of democratic credentials and lack of respect for the independence and sanctity of the legislative arm of government.
But the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, insisted on Thursday that Buhari would not intervene in the leadership crisis currently rocking the National Assembly until the APC state governors asked him to do so.
Shehu said this while featuring on Sunrise, a programme on a Lagos-based private television station,Channels TV.
He said, “When the governors met with the President, they told him that ‘we are the leaders in our states and we have influence over all of these senators. They come from our places and from us and we can handle it.’
“The President will step into the crisis at the point when the governors say they can no longer fix it.”
Angry APC members on the floor of the House tore each other’s clothes, threw punches, upturned tables, threw bound copies of law books, kicked chairs and shouted on top of their voices for about 105 minutes the rowdy session lasted.
Some daring members, led by a lawmaker from Sokoto State, Mr. Balarabe Salame, actually made to snatch the mace, but the Sergeant-at-Arms and other lawmakers quickly rescued the authority symbol of the legislative House and deposited same in the Speaker’s office.
Directly behind Saleme was a member from Kano State, Mr. Ali Madaki.
Salame also made to attack the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, but he retreated as Dogara loyalists rushed at him and threatened to throw him out of the chamber.
Amid the shoving and punching, shouts of “Dogara”, “Dogara”, “Give us our leaders”, “Party is supreme’’, “PDP, power”, “APC, change” and “APC, shame”, were heard in a discordant manner.
The bone of contention, The PUNCH learnt, was the non-announcement of the names of principal officers of the House as directed by the leadership of the APC.
The party, had in a letter dated June 23, asked the Speaker to announce Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos State) as the Majority Leader; Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa (Kano State) as his deputy; Mr. Mohammed Monguno (Borno State) as the Chief Whip; and Mr. Pally Iriase (Edo State) as his deputy.
The party had explained that it took the decision following “consultations” with the various caucuses.
There had been tension in the House over the matter even before the Thursday’s sitting.
For example, the North-Central and South-East caucuses had protested their exclusion from the sharing of the positions.
They had protested against giving the South-West and the North-East additional positions, having produced the deputy speaker and speaker respectively already.
Thursday’s fracas was fallout of the lingering dispute in the APC following the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate and Dogara as the Speaker on June 9.
How Speaker ignited ‘riot’
Trouble started on Thursday when contrary to the expectations of many APC lawmakers, Dogara did not announce the names of the principal officers. Rather, he opted to call for an executive session soon after his procession entered the chambers.
The Speaker had beckoned to a member from Benue State, Mr. Orker Jev, to move a motion for the executive session.
But several hands promptly went up, with members shouting, “point of order, “point of order”, but Dogara ignored them and directed Jev to continue.
The Speaker’s action apparently infuriated some members hence the pandemonium that followed.
Ado-Doguwa climbed onto a desk right in front of Dogara and attempted to incite members, but he was chased down by those backing Dogara. The Speaker’s backers threw hard copies of law books they picked from the desk at Ado-Doguwa.
Also, some members suddenly produced and carried placards with an inscription, “Nigerians voted party; party is supreme.”
Some members of the APC, who were not favourably disposed to the decision of the party, as well as the Peoples Democratic Party members in the House, were also seen forming a protective human shield around Dogara.
The PDP members claimed that they were out to protect the House as an institution, not that they were part of the crisis in the APC. They were led by a member from Delta State, Mr. Leo Ogor.
All the while, Gbajabiamila sat quietly at a corner, watching the unfolding drama.
But, after sensing that the matter was getting out of hands, he rose to meet and discuss with Dogara briefly at the Chair. At 12pm, he tried to address the rowdy members but his efforts failed.
It was not until 12.31pm that calm began to return gradually as Gbajabiamila and Ogor appealed to the warring members to return to their seats.
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