Reps Leadership Redeploys Committee Chair Who Summoned Govs Alia, Dauda Lawal

The leadership of the House of Representatives, carried on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, announced a minor reshuffle of some chairpersons of its standing committees.

Speaker of the House, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, who announced the minor reshuffle among the committee chairpersons at plenary, redeployed Hon Mike Etaba, who summoned the Governors of Benue and Zamfara States to appear before his committee.

Accordingly, Etaba, who represents the Obubra/Etung federal constituency of Cross River, was moved from the Committee on Public Petitions to the Committee on Environment as chairman.

The minor reshuffle also saw Hon Bitrus Laori, the lawmaker from Adamawa, moved from the Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa, to Public Petitions while Hon Billy Osawaru, from Edo, who served as the deputy chairman of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation, was appointed as vicd Chairman of the Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa.

Etaba’s redeployment came few days after he summoned Governors Hyacinth Alia and Dauda Lawal of Benue and Zamfara States respectively over the political crises affecting their respective state legislatures.

The Etaba-led committee also extended invitations to the speakers and leadership of the Houses of Assembly of the two states.

The committee had said that the summons were issued based on a petition by the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, a civil society organisation (CSO), requesting the governors and speakers to clarify why the House of Representatives should not assume the functions of the assemblies.

However, the two governors fired back, saying that the National Assembly lacked the constitutional authority to summon them just as some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) vehemently opposed the summons by the House of Representatives, insisting that the committee of the House cannot invite a governor as they are accountable to their respective State assemblies in addition to their immunity.

Following the development, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria on Wednesday, expressed its disapproval of the summons.

Hon Adebo Ogundoyin, chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, described the summons as an “overreach of constitutional powers” and a “direct challenge” to Nigeria’s federal structure and the autonomy of state legislatures.

Ogundoyin noted that the National Assembly’s investigative and oversight powers, as outlined in sections 88 and 89 of the constitution, are “limited only to federal matters”.

He further said; “The state legislature operates as an independent arm of government. Presiding officers cannot be summoned concerning internal legislative issues—unless a clear constitutional or federal matter is involved”.