Loading ...ABUJA, NIGERIA — The floor of the House of Representatives dissolved into a chaotic, rowdy session following fierce verbal confrontations between opposition lawmakers and ruling party members. The drama peaked when the Deputy House Minority Whip, Hon. George Ibezimako Ozodinobi, and other opposition figures aggressively shouted down Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, commanding him to “sit down and shut up” during a heated debate over an un-proffered motion to summon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Green Chamber.
The parliamentary uproar was triggered by a dual-layered crisis rocking the 10th National Assembly: an attempt by opposition lawmakers to force the presidency to explain severe national budget delays, and a separate, exploding scandal involving the illegal allocation of over ₦1.3 billion to a “fake” agency, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The Flashpoint: The Attempt To Summon President Tinubu
The legislative fireworks ignited during the presentation of a motion of urgent national importance brought forward by Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh regarding the poor funding of appropriated capital projects and delayed releases to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
While reading the motion—which had already been vetted by the Speaker—Ikwechegh subtly introduced an unapproved, smuggled prayer. He demanded that President Bola Tinubu be formally summoned to appear before the House floor to explain why the federal government is implementing multiple budgets simultaneously while starving ongoing zonal development projects of funding.
Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau State) quickly rose to interject and block the opposition’s move. Gagdi argued that established parliamentary procedures dictate that the legislature should beam its searchlight on ministers and agency heads rather than attempting to ambush the President.
“Sit down! Shut up! Shut up!” opposition lawmakers, led by the red-capped Hon. George Ibezimako Ozodinobi, roared from the minority benches, completely drowning out Gagdi’s microphone and forcing the chamber into an immediate state of disorder.
| Legislative Flashpoint | The Plenary Confrontation Blueprint |
|---|---|
| The Motion | Urgent probe into budget funding delays and capital project starvation. |
| The Ambush | Opposition introduces an unlisted prayer demanding President Tinubu appear in person. |
| The Defence | Hon. Yusuf Gagdi moves to amend, stating fiscal ministers should be summoned instead. |
| The Backlash | Hon. George Ibezimako Ozodinobi and minority benches launch a heavy shouting match to suppress Gagdi. |
| The Ruling | Speaker Tajudeen Abbas invalidates the prayer, labeling it a procedural violation. |
The ₦1.3 Billion “Fake Agency” Nightmare
Compounding the deep political friction in the chamber is an ongoing investigation into how a completely unrecognized, “phantom” body bypassed security oversight to secure a massive ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
The entity, labeled the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), was publicly disowned by the Presidency through spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, who branded its self-proclaimed Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, an impostor.
Despite the executive branch claiming the agency does not legally exist, the House discovered that hundreds of millions of public funds had already been wired to its accounts. Opposition members have seized on the scandal, arguing that it represents an institutional racket and a failure of executive financial oversight.
While the Senate voted to delay its independent inquiry to await an active Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) probe, the House of Representatives has fiercely charted its own path, establishing a high-powered ad hoc committee to aggressively grill the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning alongside the Director-General of the Budget Office.
Speaker Abbas Restores Order, Accuses Lawmakers Of Ambush
As the shouting match threatened to dissolve into physical combat, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas stepped in heavily to protect the leadership of the executive branch and enforce the house rule book.
Rebuking Hon. Ikwechegh and the shouting minority faction, Speaker Abbas ruled the attempt to summon the President out of order, confirming that the copy of the motion submitted to his office did not contain any such mandate.
“Hon. Mascot, you gave me a copy of your motion and what is contained on prayer five is that an ad-hoc committee should be constituted to interact with the relevant agencies,” Speaker Abbas stated firmly. “So, it is wrong for you to attempt to bring in what is not contained here. You cannot ambush the House.”
The Speaker subsequently discarded the controversial prayer, referring the broader issues of unpaid contractors and the ₦1.3 billion phantom agency allocation to specialized ad hoc investigative committees. However, the fierce confrontation has exposed deep political cracks within the National Assembly, as opposition lawmakers like Hon. George Ibezimako Ozodinobi vow to keep utilizing aggressive legislative maneuvers to force accountability from the presidency.
