Tag: Tambuwal

The defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has created a crack within the caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House as moves have commenced for the impeachment of the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha.

It was learnt yesterday night that the move by the lawmakers sympathetic to Tambuwal was borne out of Ihedioha’s alleged disloyalty to the Speaker, whom they said has been shielding him.

Tambuwal loyalists said they are poised to counter any moves aimed at removing the Speaker.

The loyal lawmakers that cut across the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP said the Deputy Speaker, Ihedioha, would be the first casualty, if the attempt to reconvene the plenary by Ihedioha ever succeeded.

According to a source, who pleaded anonymity, it was a suprise and alarming that the Deputy  Speaker would move to reconvene the House to pave way for the removal of Tambuwal at the prodding of the Presidency.

It was learnt last night that an impeachment motion against the Deputy Speaker is being drafted with many members signifying their interests to endorse the motion.

He said: “We are alarmed at moves by the Deputy Speaker to reconvene the House somewhere this week in order to remove the Speaker.

“Therefore, we have resolved that Ihedioha will be the first casualty if he dare reconvene the House because he has been surviving because of Tambuwal’s protection. Most PDP members from the north and all APC members are in support of removing him.

“He survived several moves to oust him because Tambuwal and some powerful northern members have been protecting him but now that he is being pushed to bite the very finger that is feeding him, his days as deputy speaker are numbered.

“Unlike Tambuwal, Ihedioha does not have any personal touch with members. But the Speaker has touch and contacts with all the 360 constituencies in the country.

“Former Deputy Speaker Bayero Nafada was not like Ihedioha, his was always filled with members. Even members from his zone of Southeast are with us in this project which makes it easy for us to get the 240 votes to impeach him,” the source who pleaded anonymity said.

Indications emerged yesterday that two judges had declined hearing a fresh application to sack the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.

The judges were said to have turned down the matter to avoid the hammer of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The judges were said to have claimed that it would amount to abuse of court process if the application was entertained since a similar suit on defection was already before a Federal High Court judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

Besides the legal option, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Muazu, has summoned the Deputy Speaker of the House, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, and 205 PDP members in the House to a meeting scheduled to hold on Monday.

It was gathered that the party would give a directive to the Deputy Speaker and others to reconvene the House plenary.

Tambuwal’s ADC, others redeployed

While the PDP was neck-deep in its plot, the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has redeployed the Aide-de-Camp to the Speaker and his other police aides to different police formations.

They got their letters of posting on Friday, putting paid to any hope of restoring Tambuwal’s security apparatchik.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that anti-Tambuwal forces in the Presidency had been pushing for a fresh suit to get a declaratory judgment against the Speaker to vacate his office.

A highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, said: “There is a plot to file a fresh application at the court to declare Tambuwal’s seat vacant in the light of Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution.

“But two judges have declined pressure to entertain the new application because it would amount to abuse of court process since Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court is already handling a similar matter.

“The judges claimed that if they go ahead to consider the application, the NJC might sanction them.

“I can tell you that the anti-Tambuwal forces have run into a roadblock. The only option they have is to consolidate any fresh suit with the existing one in line with Order 11 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009.

The order says: “Where two or more matters are pending in the court and it appears to the Court that (a) same question of law or fact arises in both or all of them; or (b) the rights to relief claimed therein are in respect of or arise out of the same or similar transaction or series of transactions; or (c) the interest of justice of the trial so demands, the Court may order that the causes or matters be consolidated on such terms as it thinks just and the Court shall give such directions as may be necessary with respect to the hearing of the causes or matters so consolidated.”

Muazu champions move to reconvene house

But the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alh. Adamu Muazu, has summoned the Deputy Speaker of the House, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, and 205 PDP members in the House to a meeting on Monday.

A notice of the session was served to all the lawmakers on Friday.

A principal officer in the House said: “Some of us have got a hint of the agenda. The party leadership wants to direct us to cut short our recess and reconvene at all cost to elect a new Speaker.

“They said we should either move against Tambuwal or forget our second term ticket. I think they have forgotten that not all the PDP members in the House will back the party’s position.

“The House has adjourned sitting till December 3 and only the Speaker can reconvene the House.

“They are trying to put Ihedioha in a tight corner by tying his governorship aspiration to his loyalty to the party at this crucial moment.

“The Deputy Speaker is a man of principle. He will rather stand by the members than being used as a pawn by anybody. This is the same man they have not been too disposed to as the PDP governorship candidate in Imo State.

“We will go there on Monday to listen to their ‘advice’ or directive as the case may be.”

Another source who responded to the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba’s redeployment of the Aide-de-Camp to the Speaker and other police aides to different police formations yesterday said: “Despite public outcry, the IGP has reposted the Speaker’s ADC, driver and other police aides.

“They were all served their reposting signals on Friday with a directive to resume at their formations with immediate effect.”

The Minority Whip of the House, Barrister Samson Osagie, has warned that President Goodluck Jonathan and principal actors in his government would be held responsible if anything unpleasant happens to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal.

Osagie gave the warning against the backdrop of the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker after his recent defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress.

He said that it was barbaric and smacked of gross intolerance for Jonathan and his government to interfere in the internal affairs of the House of Representatives instead of allowing the House to decide the fate of its leader who he said legally sought a platform for his political future.

The Minority Whip opined that security agencies must tread cautiously whenever the powers that be seek to use them illegally to achieve selfish political ends.

The Edo South senator said it amounts to an affront on the legislature for the police to determine when a person ceases to be Speaker.

He said: “I wonder whether the police is an arm of the PDP. Given the circumstances under which Tambuwal became Speaker, no one should be in doubt as to the fact that he is a child of destiny whose political future or ascendancy cannot be truncated by anybody or authority.”

While urging Jonathan to remember that there is God in everything we do, Osagie called on the security agencies to immediately return the full complement of security personnel to Speaker Tambuwal, adding that he remains the undisputed Speaker of the House of Representatives.

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal was yesterday stripped of his security aides – an action that was roundly condemned.

The police said they were acting under Section 68 (1)(g) of the Constitution.

But legalgiants were unanimous in their condemnation of the action.

They described the action as an aberration and an act of lawlessness by the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba.

The lawyers urged him to order the immediate reinstatement of the security detail as Tambuwal remains the Speaker.

According to them, the police action is illegal and amounts to an abuse of power.

Besides, they said, it is not for the police chief to interpret the Constitution as he is not a court.

The lawyers, who said Abba is dancing to the tune of his paymasters, concluded that he must be “tamed” before he does more damage.

Some lawyers accused him of double standards. They said the security aides of Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko were not withdrawn when he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Besides, they said the section of the Constitution relied on by the IGP was not applicable in the circumstance.

Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Presidents Joseph Daudu (SAN) and Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN), Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), Norrison Quakers (SAN), constitutional lawyer Ike Ofuokwu and former NBA Ikeja Branch chairman Monday Ubani said there was no basis for the police action.

Daudu described the IGP’s directive as “executive brigandage” and an abuse of power.

He said: “My comment is based on the assumption that it is true that the IGP has withdrawn the Police detail attached to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on account of his defection from PDP to APC in furtherance of his political ambition.

“While I do not support the abandonment by elected politicians midstream of one political party to another for what has become purely personal ambition, the withdrawal of security detail attached to his office while he still lawfully occupies that office is condemnable.

“There exists the principles of separation of powers as the underlying philosophy behind our Constitution and any decision or loss of privileges by the Speaker on account of his pronouncement of defecting is a matter within the exclusive preserve of the legislature.

“If the IGP has any problem with his defecting, he should approach the courts for clarification. This is executive brigandage, to say the very least and a naked abuse of power.  I am not surprised; the Nigerian Police sees itself as a security department of the PDP and the executive, hence it has turned itself into a lackey.

“The Police is the collective property of all Nigerians, Tambuwal deserves police protection without any recriminations.  Nigerian politicians should play mature politics and stop making a fool of themselves. Police protection should be restored to him forthwith.”

Akeredolu said the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security detail was an abuse of power by the PDP-led Federal Government.

He said in law, Tambuwal remains the Speaker, until he is removed by the court or members of the House or he resigns.

“All the police have done is the bidding of their assumed master – Federal Government and PDP. They are not the court and have no such powers. The Section 68 they relied on does not and cannot avail them because it said a member of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat, not speakership.

“This impunity will affect the forthcoming elections, if unchecked. It behoves on the Nigerian people to be prepared to fight for their rights. Tambuwal should go to court and seek an order reinstating his security detail,” said Akeredolu.

Ali said the police could not interpret any section of the Constitution because the force is not a court of law.

“What makes a member of the House of Representatives to become the Speaker is the election by majority of the members of the House. Until removed as Speaker by members of the House, he remains the Speaker. The police authorities acted illegally, precipitately, politically and unconstitutionally by the act in question.

“One wonders when the police authorities became a court of law, interpreting the provisions of the Constitution. They should immediately reverse this illegal and provocative action.”

Ngige said the action against Tambuwal was ill advised and “smacks of unbridled intolerance to opposing political views”.

His words: “The action reinvigorates the urgent need for State Police so that the incessant use and misuse of the Federal Police to silence opposing political views will be put under check. The IGP is not a court of law to determine whether the Speaker had violated any law in his defection from APC to PDP. I doubt whether sound legal advice from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation was sought by the IGP before this malicious action was taken. I hope the Attorney-General will advise the IGP to reverse his illegal action.

“The speakership is not an exclusive preserve of any political party, be it the ruling party or the opposition. The IGP by his partisan action, is confirming the fears long held by many people that 2015 elections will neither be free nor fair and that by the partisan action and inaction of the security agencies, including the police, the election will ultimately lead to the disintegration of Nigeria. It is doubtful whether the House of Reps will ever sit again where the Speaker’s personal security will not be guaranteed.

“If the Federal Government and the ruling party do not want Hon. Tambuwal to remain in office on account of his defection to an opposition party, they certainly know the legal options available to them. Withdrawing the Speaker’s security details is reminiscent of what happened in Anambra State during the political crisis of 2003 and, therefore, calls for  urgent need for a state police so that where the Federal Police is maliciously withdrawn as in the instant case, the state police will be called in to fill the vacuum.

“The IGP should give all the respects due to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a constitutionally created office and not necessarily the occupier of the office. The IGP should not overheat the polity by his ill advised action.”

Quakers said the police must not be partisan, adding: “There is no law that permits the acting IGP to withdraw the security detail of the Speaker because he defected to another political platform. I believe the provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution are not applicable at this instance. Neither can it be enforced by the police independent of judicial intervention.

“I believe the Speaker, having been appointed sequel to the provisions of Section 50 (1) (b) can only be removed from office as envisaged within the provisions of Section 2 (a) (b) (c). Anything short of this is unconstitutional and unlawful.”

Ofuokwu said Abba “has erroneously dabbled in the arena of partisan politics”, describing the action as irresponsible. He added that the police should have withdrawn Mimiko’s security when he defected to the PDP.

“I sympathise greatly with him because this is all in a bid to get his masters confirm him as substantive IGP. When did the lot fall on the police to interpret the Constitution? It would have been better and responsible for the police not to adduce any reason for this withdrawal of the Speaker’s security details since it’s a privilege and not a right in the first place.”

Ubani called the police chief’s action “barbaric and childish,” saying it amount to impunity. To him, Abba should be “tamed” before he does more damage in a bid to please his pay masters.

He said: “It is an abuse of authority by the IGP. The question to him will be: ‘Whose orders is he carrying out?’ it is illegal to do so. The position as at today is that Tambuwal is still the Speaker and has not been removed by the members of the House. He deserves all the respect and courtesies he is entitled to by law and custom.

“I am sure that Ex-governor Peter Obi of Anambra and His Excellency Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State have not been denied their security aides as a result of their defections from their various parties to PDP. What of those of APGA lawmakers that defected to PDP recently? Were they denied their security detail as a result of that defection?

“We should not allow this absurdity in our political life. It will certainly not help us as a nation. His is clearly a bad omen for 2015 and an IGP that will be eager to carry out the biddings of a certain political party in power both at the Federal and the states to the detriment of national interest. This impunity should be nipped in the bud now and this new acting IG should be tamed before he develops the fangs of a monster. There is no time.”

Apparently overwhelmed by the goodwill trailing his defection, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal yesterday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) will sweep the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) off power next year.

He also spoke on why he defected to the APC.

Tambuwal, who made a grand entry into the Extra-Orddinary National Convention of the APC at the Old Parade Ground, Abuja assured the 5,287 delegates that God will help the opposition to deliver Nigeria from the evil it had been plunged into.

Clad in white Babanriga and accompanied by 100 members of the House of Representatives, Tambuwal mounted the rostrum amid ovation.

Armed with a broom, the symbol of the APC which he shook in the air intermittently, an elated Tambuwal gave PDP a quit notice, saying the ruling party cannot dare God.

He told the excited delegates: “Come May 29, 2015, we shall, insha Allah, sweep away the PDP government.

“APC is a party that is giving Nigerians hope and is a party we believe that by the grace of God, and not by the power of human being, shall deliver this country from the evil that it has been plunged into by a certain cabal.

“It is an honour and privilege to join you all today at this Special Convention of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). I am really glad to be part of the APC family.

“Indeed, I have been overwhelmed by the massive outpouring of goodwill and welcome that I have received from the members of our great party and other well-meaning Nigerians since the formal notification of my membership of APC. From the depth of my heart, I say, thank you.

“And in appreciation of your warm hand of fellowship, I hereby rededicate myself to the task of building and growing our party, and helping our party achieve its mission of lifting Nigeria to glorious heights and restoring hope to the citizens of our great country.

“In this regard, I hereby call on all other like-minded Nigerians to join this movement to deliver on the promise of a new Nigeria.”

The Speaker explained why he decided to pitch his political tent with the APC.

He said: “The APC is the party where the progressive ideals of good governance to which I subscribe are wholeheartedly embraced and applied for the betterment of Nigeria.

“I have embraced the  APC platform as a veritable instrument for genuine change and enduring national development. We must constantly remind ourselves that Nigerians yearn for true change and APC represents the hope for this change, and a promise of a brighter tomorrow.

“The work may appear tedious and the road ahead may appear long and hard, but our party is amply endowed with all the key ingredients of success. We need unity and solidarity in our ranks in order to face the challenges ahead.

“In the weeks ahead, we will engage party men and women and Nigerians on the future direction of our nation and means of rescuing her from the malaise of youth unemployment, insecurity, institutionalised corruption, poverty, socio-economic decline and infrastructural decay.

“May Almighty God guide our deliberations at this Special Convention, guide our path, bless our great party, the All Progressives Congress. And may He bless and protect the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

A former head of state and presidential aspirant, General Muhammadu Buhari, who also spoke at the convention, said the opposition came together to form a formidable party to save Nigeria from the ruling PDP.

He said that the party was committed to the principles of internal democracy and assured all that APC will deliver the nation from corruption, insecurity and infrastructural decay.

He said: “We should do all  we can do, whatever sacrifices the party can make to come together to get the PDP out of the way. We did that when we merged as a party; we can still do it.”

Imo State Governor and presidential aspirant Owelle Rochas Okorocha said President Goodluck Jonathan was not the problem of the APC, but how to produce a presidential candidate that is electable and who can defeat the PDP.

He said: “We will give Nigeria a purposeful and visionary leadership. We must act purposefully. With due respect to his office and without using derogatory words, President Goodluck Jonathan is not a problem of APC; the only problem of APC is the ability to produce an acceptable candidate.

“I want to govern Nigeria. But if my presidency will be the one that cannot end insurgency in the Northeast, put food on the table for Nigerians, unite Nigerians to the extent that an Igbo man will be a Yoruba man, may it not work – in Jesus name.

“We must stop singing the song of ethnicity and religion in Nigeria. We must get together and take over this country because the PDP has failed Nigerians.”

The Chairman of the convention committee, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, called on members at the grassroots to register in the continued voter registration because  it is vital for the desired change.

Yari said: “With the support of Nigerians, our party will lead Nigeria to the promised land.”

At the convention were  Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Magatakarda Wamako (Sokoto), Yari (Zamfara), Kashim Shettima(Borno)and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano).

Some former governors at the convention were Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Danjuma Goje, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, Chief Timipriye Silva, Senator George Akume, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Prince Abubakar Audu, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Chief Segun Oni(Deputy National Chairman).

Other party leaders are: Former ANPP Chairman Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, Prince Tony Momoh, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senator Chris Ngige, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, presidential aspirant  Sam Nda-Isaiah, Gambo Magaji,  Senator Gbenga Ashafa, former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Alhaji Murtala Aliyu, former Minister Salisu Nakande, former Deputy Governor of Borno State Adamu Dibal,  Senator Joseph Waku,  Gen.Mohammed Aboki, Prince Malik Afegbua, Senator F.S. Okpozo, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Abdulkarim Lawal, Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly,  former Director General, National Boundary Commission, Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo,Mohammed Mohammed, Hon. Abike Dabiri, Amb. Abubakar Shehu Wurno and Senator Shuaibu Lawal.

Others are: former Minister Nasir el-Rufai, APC National Publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, Alh. Kawu Baraje, House Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila and House Committee on Finance Chairman Abdulmumin Jibril.