By tomorrow, the House of Representatives will reconvene after its three weeks break. They were expected to reconvene last week but had to extend it by one week following some developments.

Deputy Speaker, Usman Bayero Nafada, a forthnight ago explained why the House deferred its resumption till tomorrow. Flanked by the House Leader, Tunde Akogun, Minority Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume and other principal officers, Nafada told journalists at a press conference in Abuja that part of the reasons why the House had to defer its resumption was because various investigations were yet to be concluded.

The explanation, however, conflicted with the insinuations in some quarters that the postponement was as a result of speaker's Dimeji Bankole's overseas trip. Bankole had travelled to some countries, namely the United States, United Kingdom and France reportedly on capacity building and over bilateral matters.

But before the break, there were outstanding issues to be trashed out by the lower legislative chamber, among which is the reconstitution of the 71 standing committees.

Last March, the Speaker initiated moves to effect changes in the committees. He had asked the five parties, namely the PDP, ANPP, AC, PPA and LP represented in the House to nominate their members into the Selection Committee, which he statutorily heads. The aim was to find a harmonious way of reviewing the membership of committees given the fact that some of them were already showing signs of weak performance.

Bankole had also asked members interested in belonging to committees of their choice to indicate in not more than five committees. He noted that a situation where some members belong to eight committees while others belong to only two would no longer be condoned in the emerging order in the House.

And since then, the matter has been on the card. Along the line, Bankole had openly warned committee chairmen, particularly the truant and lazy ones to sit up because the expanded Selection Committee was still meeting. The implication of that warning is that those found wanting may be swept off their committee seats. It is also important to note that some committees have braced up.

But reports say the exercise is being delayed because of the extensive lobbying going on. It is believed that Bankole, who inherited the committees from his predecessor, Patricia Etteh, has come under pressure to retain most of the committees as composed. Last week alone, reports say that Bankole met with some members abroad to discuss the pending committee composition just as some of the legislators also met independently, apparently to ward off the Speaker's "onslaught." Back in Abuja, the Speaker was said to have had several sessions in his office with members in an apparent move to finalise the issue. He reportedly marked some names with black biro and others with red, in readiness for the exercise this week.

House Spokesman, Eziuche Ubani, in a chat with journalists last Friday confirmed that the committee chairmen would be announced this week. His words: "By next week, the committee will give us the report on who is chairman."

What shape will this exercise take? Bankole has kept many guessing. But information filtering is disturbing. There are indications that there will be no major reshuffling. It was gathered only a few committees would be touched. The implication is that majority of the committees would be left as Etteh constituted them. If this happens, Etteh would be having some enduring legacy.

Nevertheless, I still believe that Bankole and his co-travellers in the Selection Committee can do more than that.

In this column on March 24, 2008, I had offered a few suggestions as to how the committees should be reshuffled in order to move the House forward and give Bankole a place in the nation's history.

I had written thus: "I am of the view, therefore, that in order to engender peace and stability in the House, more chairmanship slots should be given to the opposition parties. There is just no reason why the door should be shut against the AC. There are definitely people with ideas in the party and to deny these people of bringing their wealth of experience to the service of the nation is unacceptable.

"Secondly, the time has come for the square pegs to be put in square holes. I have noticed in the last five or six months that the presence of some members in the leadership of their committee is like taking fish to a dry ground. They are not performing because they don't just fit in.

"Etteh, perhaps out of ignorance, appointed some people into committees which are strange to them. While appreciating some of the appointments, many others are not worth it. These people must be changed, if the House is determined to change the course of things. I mean that such appointments should be reviewed, if the House is to help the nation move forward.

"I will also like to canvass that the number of committees. Though, it is impossible to satisfy everyone, especially in a 360-member House such as this, tension and dissatisfaction and by extension stability can be achieved if many of them are engaged. It is a joyous thing that the reconstitution of the standing committees is coming alongside the amendment of the Standing Orders of the House as announced by the Speaker last Tuesday.

"Also, peculiarities of different geo-political zones should be brought into focus. During the last exercise by Etteh, there was bitter agitation for the chairmanship of the Committee on Niger Delta to be headed by somebody from core Niger Delta state.

"But in her wisdom, the former Speaker appointed somebody from Ondo State as chairman of that committee. Granted that the current chairman is from the riverine area of Ondo State, we all know that such appointment can hardly go down well with the people of the Niger Delta. This type of appointment can stagnate a committee, and we have seen it in the last five months. There comes a time when a people have to be given a sense of belonging to ensure stability, and this is a case in point.

"In line with this, a Committee on Desertification, which the northerners are passionate about, should be created and it should be headed by a northerner.

"More importantly, patriotic, versed and courageous members should be made committee chairmen. Godwin Elumelu of the Power and Steel Committee has demonstrated what a committee chairman should be. Nigerians need courageous chairmen who can confront situations, no matter whose ox is gored. We don't need chairmen who are just waiting in the wings to milk the country.

"It is heart-rending to note that some committee chairmen have not convened a meeting of their members more than once since inauguration. This is unacceptable. Such committee heads should be given the booth, in order not to stagnate the country. They don't have a place in the emerging order.

"It is also important that there is a quarterly assessment of the committees, and in doing this, certain criteria should be mapped out. A committee that does not meet up to a given number of times in a year has to be disbanded.

"I am convinced that Bankole does not only want to succeed, he is conscious of his place in history. He is conscious of how future generations will access him. A bright mind thinks that way. So, it is now he has to act. What is needed is action and achievements. It does not matter whether it is an Etteh's loyalist that is heading any committee. What matters is the impact his performance would have on the lives of Nigerians."

Will Bankole spring any surprise on this matter this week?