Names of House Committee Chairs Announced by Speaker

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, revealed the names of the chairmen and deputy chairmen for numerous standing committees on Thursday. Notably, the count of committees has risen from the prior 109 to a total of 134.

Idris Wase, the former Deputy Speaker of the House, was assigned as the Chairman of the Committee on Federal Character. Muktar Betara, who previously headed the Committee on Appropriation, is now the Chairman of the Committee on the Federal Capital Territory.

Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, a previous House Leader and a supporter of Abbas during his Speaker campaign, was appointed as the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

Other assignments included Aminu Jaji as the head of the Ecological Fund, Miriam Onuoha leading the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Abubakar Bichi in charge of Appropriation, and Afam Ogene presiding over Renewable Energy. Furthermore, James Faleke will handle Finance and Salam Bamidele will take over the Public Accounts Committee.

Yusuf Gadgi and Sada Soli, the previous heads of the Committees on Navy and Water Resources respectively, maintained their positions from the 9th Assembly.

Additionally, Khadija Ibrahim, the wife of the former Yobe State Governor, Bukar Ibrahim, was named Chairman of the Committee on the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency. Other assignments included Ikenga Ugo-Chinyere (Petroleum Downstream), Leke Abejide (Custom and Excise), Victor Nwokolo (Power), Bello El-Rufai (Banking Regulations), and Erhiakate Ibori-Suenu (Niger Delta Development Commission).

In explaining the decision-making process for these appointments, Speaker Abbas underscored the importance of fairness and inclusivity. He highlighted that the selection committee prioritized capacities, experiences, knowledge, competencies, skills, and legislative interests of members when determining assignments. According to Abbas, this was done to ensure appropriate fit, likening it to having “round pegs in round holes.” He further noted the challenge of assigning members to various committees, given the variety of criteria to be considered.