There is tension in the atmosphere as members of the National Assembly resumes after a two-month recess during which the leadership of the House of Representatives was mired in corruption controversy.
Though plenary was postponed in the house of reps to honour two members who died during the recess – Alex Eze, from Enugu and Adewale Elijah from Lagos, but the move to make speaker Yakubu Dogara step down appeared to have gathered momentum.
A group of legislators in the House of Representatives, known as the Transparency Group, are insisting that speaker, Yakubu Dogara, must step aside.
Mohammed Soba a member of the Transparency Group said that the group, at a meeting on Monday night, had agreed to mobilise members against the Speaker.
Soba said: “We shall insist that the house leadership step aside and submit themselves for investigation. And we cannot allow any matter concerning the so called vote of confidence to be entertained.”
However, supporters of the Speaker are also getting ready to block any move against him.
Dogara’s loyalists are expected to give him a standing ovation at the end of his opening speech on Tuesday.
One of the backers of the speaker reacting to the information that some group of lawmakers will pass a vote of no confidence on the speaker stated: “While they are planning (the vote of no confidence), others are planning to pass vote of confidence in the leadership of the House.
“I want you to know that after the prayer, first thing tomorrow is the Speaker’s speech. In the speech, he will welcome everybody and address all the issues and the allegations.
“Then, his supporters will rise to give him standing ovation, which will be followed by a vote of confidence.
“So, I doubt if those planning vote of no confidence will still go ahead,” he said.
Ousted chairman of the House of Representatives committee on appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, had made several allegations against speaker Dogara bothering on wrongful insertions into the 2016 appropriation Budget.
Dogara denied the allegations.
