National Assembly lawmakers have continued intense lobbying for the chairmanship of grade A or juicy committee in the House of Representatives.
Some governors have allegedly joined in lobbying for lawmakers in their states to have strategic committees, while heads of some sensitive and influential institutions are also lobbying to have preferred lawmakers head committees that would oversee them.
Some key committees are Appropriation; Works; Finance; Defense; Banking and Currency; Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Speaking to Leadership, a lawmaker, who spoke anonymously, stated that lawmakers who do not have large war chests may not be able to get chairmanship or even membership of juicy committees.
Another lawmaker confirmed intense lobbying for the chairmanship of the juicy committees.
The ranking member of the House of Representatives, however, added that he was not aware of financial inducements.
He said lawmakers who worked for Hon Tajudeen Abbas’ emergence as Speaker would be considered to head juicy committees; hence there might not be financial inducement.
Giving an example of how intense the lobby is, a source said about 100 lawmakers accompanied the Speaker to pay homage to the Emir of Zazzau, His Royal Highness, Amb. Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli on Saturday.
He said: “The truth is members are intensifying their lobbying to head or at least be a member of the Juicy Committee. No doubt about that. What I doubt is financial inducement because the Speaker knows those who worked for him and what each member deserves. The support was not in vain, so it can not go to the extent of paying to chair a juicy committee.
“Remember also that, apart from the member-elect from Taraba who died before inauguration, out of the 359 members that were there, 353 all voted for the Speaker. There is now challenge for who to reward.
“If you watch, more than 50, almost 100 members followed the Speaker to Zaria on Saturday when he visited the Emir of Zauzau. Apart from solidarity, it was an avenue to lobby more for a good deal when the committees are finally formed.”
