MUTA petition not the first bill to be stepped down ― Reps deputy speaker

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase, on Thursday, disclosed that the controversial petition initiated by the Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA) was not the first to be stepped down by the 9th Assembly.

The Deputy Speaker who stated this during an interactive session with a delegation of Plateau Elders at the National Assembly, Abuja, argued that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Standing Rules of the House would be protected.

According to the provisions of Rule 3(1-5(a-f) of the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives (Ninth Edition), “A petition may only be presented to the House by a member, who shall affix his name at the beginning thereof.

“A member presenting a petition shall confine himself to a brief statement of the parties from whom it came, the number of signatures attached to it, the material allegations contained in it and to read the prayer of such Petition.

“No debate shall be allowed on such Petition, but it may be read by the Clerk if required.

“All petitions shall be ordered, without question being put to be laid upon the Table. Such Petition shall stand referred to the Committee on Public Petition.

“No member may present to the House a petition signed by himself, except it is certified by the Clerk as being in accordance with the following rules: every petition must be properly addressed to the House, respectfully, decorous and temperate in its language, and must conclude with a prayer setting forth the general object of the petitioner.

“Every petition must be signed by at least, one person on every sheet on which the petition is written.

“If signatures are affixed to sheets other than that containing the petition itself, such sheets shall carry at their head the prayer of the petition.

“Signatures or marks will not be counted unless, in the case of signatures, they are in the handwriting of the person signing and in the case of marks, they are witnessed, and unless in both cases, they are followed by the addresses of the persons signing or making a mark. Such signatures must be written upon, and not pasted or otherwise attached to each of the sheets on which the petition itself is written. A corporation should sign a petition with its common seal.

“Every petition shall be in the English language or if in another language be accompanied by an English translation certified to be correct by the member who presents it.

“No letter(s) or other documents may be attached to a petition, or may any erasures or interlineations be made thereon.”

While stressing that the House would remain guided by its rules and would not do anything outside the provisions of the law, Hon. Wase said: “I tried everything I could to avoid making comments on the matter, but I want to assure you that we remain one House, one family, because we are all guided by our rules.

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“We are sure of the ruling that was done and those of you who are following the matter heard when the Speaker was asking the person that brought the petition to confirm as to whether the identity of those who are presenting the petition have now signed and he did confirm they have now signed, so it has settled the matter.

“So we will not join issues with anybody and we will not be distracted, rather we will remain focused on what God has given us to do on behalf of Nigerians and we will try our possible best to do justice to all manners of people. But we cannot by any means or way throw out our rules.”

Hon Wase, who cited several instances based on the rules, maintained that: “Those who are following the activities of the House of Representatives will know that it is not the first petition that has been stepped down or asked not to be laid on the floor.

“I recall a month or two ago, was a petition that was brought from our friend from Anambra, in the claim of appointment done by the ministers, and we all know that the prerogative of appointment in the ministries is vested in the hands of the ministers and if you lay this kind of petition, what claims and to save our time, we asked him to stepped down, he stepped down, so it is not the first time.”

He said that mischief-makers were behind the wrong information sent to the public that generated the outrage.

“It is rather unfortunate, for those who want to go and even craft stories that are not stories, I know my contributions to my country, I know what I have done and for anybody who wants to now investigate, he can go there and ask what I have been able to contribute to the project.

“I thank my colleagues who have also given me the confidence and repose their confidence in me to be their Deputy Speaker and by the grace of God I’m not going to fail them and I will not let any Nigerian down,” he said.

Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Umar Shitein, described the narrative and the outage it generated as unfortunate.

Mr Shitein who observed that Nigeria’s democracy was still developing and there was a need for all asunder to protect it, harped on the need to respect elected leadership saying that degrading national leaders would be degrading the country as a whole.

Recall that the Speaker, Hon Gbajabiamila, who presided over the plenary when the petition was represented by Hon Mark Gbillah assured that: “the House of Representatives does not discriminate against anyone, wherever the remotest part we may be, we remain Nigerians.

“I think the misunderstanding came from the issue of signatures, and I must say that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Ahmed Wase has been one of the champions for Diaspora voting and was also involved very much in the creation of the Diaspora committee in this house some years back. So I think it’s clearly a misunderstanding. Please, go ahead and lay the petition, and it will be given proper and due attention.

After his remarks, the Speaker referred to the House Committee on Public Petitions for necessary legislative action.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE