On 19 December, the House of Representatives closed for the year, drawing a curtain on a challenging period, which witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In this review, DAILY POST examines some of the events that shaped the House in the just-concluded year.

Binance bribery saga

In May, the House faced allegations of bribery involving the CEO of Binance, Richard Teng.

In a post on X, Mr Teng alleged that his team, after meeting with the House Committee on Financial Crimes, was approached by unknown persons offering to “take away the trouble” of the company in exchange for money.

It could be recalled that two executives of Binance had earlier been arrested by the federal government on criminal charges.

The House Committee on Financial Crimes, chaired by Ginger Onwusibe (LP, Abia), was mandated to investigate a petition against the company.

Shortly before the bribery allegation, the Committee had threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the company’s executives for ignoring multiple invitations.

However, the bribery allegation led to the premature end of the Committee’s probe.

Saga over Samoa Agreement

In July, the debate over the implementation of the Samoa Agreement almost brought the Green Chamber into conflict with the Executive.

Following a motion by Aliyu Madaki, the lawmakers in the Green Chamber resolved that the Federal Government should suspend the implementation of the agreement due to the alleged inclusion of LGBTQ+ clauses.

However, the newspaper that published the report upon which the House based its resolution later recanted the story, as an ombudsman found it faulty and untrue.

Dissolution of Downstream and Midstream Committee

The clash of interests among members of the House of Representatives forced the leadership of the House to dissolve the ad-hoc Joint Downstream and Midstream Committee.

Initially, the joint committee was investigating the importation of adulterated petroleum products, the non-availability of crude oil for domestic refineries, and other critical energy security issues.

But following the decision of the lawmakers to engage in a media war to protect their interest, the House leadership decided that the committee was dissolved.

The committee was also marred by bribery allegations.

Change of National Anthem

One major landmark in the House was the decision to revert to the old National Anthem.

Ahead of the 25th Democracy Day, both chambers of the National Assembly unanimously passed a bill to adopt the old anthem once again.

The bill, sponsored by the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, was introduced and passed on the same day.

Subsequently, the President was invited to address a joint session of the National Assembly, where the new anthem was officially inaugurated.

Fubara vs Wike tussle divides House

The feud between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike caused divisions within the minority caucus in the House. Ikenga Ugochinyere led a faction loyal to Fubara, opposing Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda.

In May, Ugochinyere led a group of 50 lawmakers to visit Fubara in Port Harcourt, a move that angered many pro-Wike lawmakers in the House. By June, Ugochinyere was referred to the House Ethics Committee for leading the visit.

Undeterred, Ugochinyere continued to lead a strong opposition against the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Umar Damagum. For weeks, he was the face of resistance against Wike’s influence.

Mass defection in Labour Party

Towards the close of the year, the Labour Party experienced a wave of defections in the House of Representatives. By the final count, six members of the LP caucus defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

DAILY POST had earlier reported how these defections threaten the strength of the LP as the third-largest party in Nigeria.

Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West constituency), Mathew Donatus (Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna), Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani constituency), and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo) all left the party on the same day.

Later, Dalyop Chollom and Alfred Ajang, both from Plateau State, abandoned “Mama, Papa, and Pikin” and embraced the “broom” of the APC.

Death in the Green Chamber

In 2024, the House of Representatives lost three members.

The deceased members were Ekene Adams, Olajide Akinremi, and Isa Dangoyaro.

The year was marked by several moments of silence in the Green Chamber.

Bribery allegations, defections, other issues that shaped Reps in 2024