Cyril Hart, a member of the House of Representatives, has accused Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu of sidelining first-term members during debates.
Hart, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represents the Bonny/Degema Federal Constituency of Rivers State made this allegation during a discussion on the recent suicide bombings in Borno State.
The motion on the Borno bombings was presented by Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno). During the debate, Deputy Speaker Kalu permitted contributions from former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, Chairman of the Committee on Navy Yusuf Gagdi, and Chairman of the Committee on Defence Babajimi Benson.
However, despite several indications from other members wishing to speak, Kalu cited time constraints and did not allow further debate.
As Kalu moved to put the motion to a vote, Hart raised a point of order.
He accused the deputy speaker of showing bias against new members, noting that only senior members were allowed to speak on the motion.
Hart claimed this has become a recurring pattern under Kalu’s presiding, where senior members are consistently given preferential treatment.
“I have noticed Mr Speaker, with due respect to you. Each time you preside, you do not give preference to first-timers,
“The mover of the motion is an old, ranking member. Virtually everyone who contributed here were ranking members,”
The displeased lawmaker further urged Kalu who presided over the plenary in the absence of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, to accommodate fresh ideas.
“You need to allow for fresh ideas. Some of us know more than the old-ranking members. Allow us to speak. This is always what you do and I don’t like it,” Hart said while some lawmakers on the floor cheered him;
“You don’t give preference to first-timers… you don’t. This is what you always do. You need to allow for first-timers.”
In his response, Kalu said, “Thank you very much. There is no discrimination in the parliament. It depends on when you raise your hand and the area you are focusing on. Sometimes, we give one per role.
“I was also a first-timer at a time and I know that I was not discriminated against.”
Not satisfied with this, Mr Hart continued to speak despite his microphone being switched off by the presiding officer and stormed out of the chamber in protest.
