Some governors of the North have launched a battle to stave off the plot to impeach House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.
Also, there is pressure on Tambuwal to remove from key committees’ those behind the plot to destabilise the House.
The Nation learnt that some governors, led by the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, prevailed on members of the House, (mostly from the North) who are against the Speaker, to shelve the plot.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said Aliyu told lawmakers that they would not succeed.
The source said: “Aliyu has made calls to the co-ordinator of the ‘Operation Clean’ group and some members on why the North cannot afford to lose the office of the Speaker. He said North’s governors felt it is better to stabilise the House than going through another crisis.
“The governor also condemned the recourse to “politics of bitterness” by some of the aggrieved lawmakers. He pleaded with them to shelve their plan.
“The Niger State governor felt bad that the arrowhead of ‘Operation Clean’ is from his state, creating an impression that he is not sincere in leading the 19 governors of the North”.
It was also learnt that about five to six governors from the North, including Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, have intervened.
Some of the governors might still meet with the aggrieved lawmakers later on how to ensure a sustainable rapprochement between them and the Speaker, according to a source.
The “Operation Clean” group suspended the emergency session of first term members it planned for yesterday.
When our correspondent visited Transcorp Hilton, an official simply said: “I think this event is not holding here again.”
A principal officer of the House confirmed the anger of most members against the group. He said: “The Speaker is under pressure to remove these people from key committees but he thinks that the House should overlook any infractions committed by any member.
“But members are insisting that those plotting against the Speaker took advantage of their committees’ interaction with some forces in government to source for seed cash to destabilise the House.”
Following the plot being coordinated by a lawmaker from Niger State, Mohammed Sani Idris Kutigi, the Speaker summoned an Executive Session.
But the chairman, House Committee on Information and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, at a media session yesterday, said the unity of the House was not in doubt.
“I am a member of the House and I was at the executive session, but I cannot confirm what did not happen.
“What I can tell you is that we are 360 members who elected our own leadership and the unity of this House is not negotiable,” he said.
The convener of the meeting of the 260 first timer, told The Nation that the planned meeting was not intended to cause disharmony in the House.
Kutigi, who said impeachment was far from the issues on the minds of the conveners, stressed that the content of the text message that was sent to all members of the House was mischievously misinterpreted by “sycophants”.
He also said the leadership of the House was aware of the planned meeting.
“The truth is, impeachment is a process but I wonder where people get their facts from. The fact remains that it is a group of members, formed at the inception of the current House and led by Abudlmumin Jubrin, but after the inauguration, it was dispersed.
“So, the text message was a reunion of members coming together after a long while.
“To prove that there was no malicious motive to the meeting, the leadership of the House was informed of the meeting that was supposed to hold today (yesterday)
“It was not a clandestine meeting; the text was sent to the 360 members of the House. The older members were free to join us. If it was meant to create disharmony in the House we would not have met with the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha.
“We met the Deputy Speaker on Tuesday to intimate the Speaker about the meeting, but he was not available at that particular time; he was at an engagement outside the complex. So, if we are planing to unseat him, is it logical to inform him of the meeting and send text to everybody, when we know that we all have our differences?
“Speaking of issues, there were no issues to be discussed, we have not met, if we had met, issues would have been raised and addressed or find means of addressing them, so there was no agenda”.
“If impeachment was on the agenda, how can I put my name on the text. The text was a catch; it was meant to make members curious enough to want to attend.”
According to the lawmaker, the planned meeting was eventually shelved as a result of the executive session that was attended by all the lawmakers.
“By the time the text was sent, the leadership found it necessary to sit for an executive session, and since executive session usually holds for the Speaker to get feedback and comments from members, by the time we concluded it, we felt that there was no need for it any more,” Kutigi added.
