(UPDATE) Fracas in Reps over leadership, Mace disappears

ABUJA – It was a travail of free-for-all and babel of voices that saw swollen faces and torn clothes in the hallow chamber of the House of Representatives yesterday, with no one appearing to be in charge as the lawmakers disagree over possible candidates for House Leader and Chief Whip as well as their Deputies.
While the two two factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) – Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s group and those loyal to the party led by Rep. Femi Gbajabiamia
tried to outdo each other in marching shouts, the Peoples Democratic Party Reps chanted “APC! Shame!; APC! Shame!…
At the heart of the fighting is the leadership crisis, which has engulfed the House since the inauguration of the National Assembly on June 9. The Mace, which is the symbol of authority of the House, has disappeared, as the lawmakers continue with their fighting. The Mace we learnt was ferried to the inner office of the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.
Trouble started, when the group loyal to APC went for the Mace, (The symbol of authority), in protest against the Speaker’s refusal to read the party’s letter to the House of Reps, nominating Gbajabiamila and others as principal officers but were rebuffed by those loyal to the Speaker
Instead of reading the letter, Speaker Dogara opted for a closed door session but this did not go down well with Gbajabiamila group and they went for the mace. The sergeant at arm who rushed in from the senate wing rescued the mace from members and took it out of the chamber.
What followed was pandemonium as members threw decorum into the wind and engaged in a brawl like Motor Park touts. Sitting was disrupted for over two hours and the business of the day as listed in the Order paper of the House was terminated.
In a letter dated 23rd June, 2015 and addressed to the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the APC sent a list of names approved as Principal Officers. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila ( South West) was chosen as the Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa (North West, Deputy Majority leader,; M.T. Monguno ( North East), Chief Whip; and Hon. Pally Iriase (South South) was pencilled as Deputy Chief Whip.
Having failed to seize the mace, the Rep from Sokoto made straight for the Speaker and attempted to ruffle his white robe but was stopped by about 30 members who eventually formed a protective ring around Dogara.
However the conflict heightened when Hon. Hassan Garba Ado-Doguwa ( APC Kano) clambered on the table on which the mace previously sat and was pushed down by irate members.
In the struggle some members fell on the floor and the bulky volumes of the acts of Parliament on the table were freely used as missiles by lawmakers loyal to Gbajabiamila and those on the side of Dogara.
From that moment till some minutes 12 noon, members milled around, made loud noises, and generally issued threats to one another. Suddenly, chants of ’’all we are saying, give us Gbaja” rent the air. There were also interjections of ”APC”, while PDP member chanted ”shame” in response.
While the melee lasted However, Rep. Gbajabiamila was seen speaking with Dogara, though no one had an inkling of what he said; it was obvious it was on how to assuage the situation.
At exactly 12:34 pm, the mace returned to the Chamber causing members to applaud. Rep Oker Jev thereafter moved that plenary resumed and was seconded by Goni Bukar Lawan (Yobe) who almost reignited the unrest, when he referred to Oker Jeff as “Acting Leader” that incensed Hon. Madaki into launching at him but was held back by other members.
Once the members had settled down, Dogara pleaded for patience on the part of his colleagues sayings the contentious issue of Principal Officers will be resolved.
“We are very fortunate, let me remind us of the fact that, we are very fortunate, in a nation of 170 million people, only 360 of us are selected or elected to represent the people and we should be grateful to our constituents for sending us here.
As to the issues that led to the fracas today, we will sit down as leaders and resolve whatever the fight; we have to ensure that this matter as quickly as possible be resolved and that is what we will do by the Grace of God”, he continued.
He thereafter approved the Votes and Proceedings of the next day and adjourned the House to the 21st of July. The adjournment was followed by separate briefings by causes of APC and PDP where they traded blames over the matter.