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Tag: Tambuwal’s defection

  • Wike: Tambuwal’s defection, victory for democracy

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday declared Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s defection as “victory for democracy”.

    In a statement, he said: “This is a victory for democracy.  There are lots of Nigerians who believe that the right thing should be done.  What the Sokoto State governor has done is the right thing.

    “There are some people who have said that we cannot continue to live in a world of intimidation.  We cannot continue to live in a world of harassment.  Every right thinking Nigerian should come together to see that something is done to salvage the country.

    “Democracy is under threat in Nigeria. Nobody obeys court judgments.  Nobody obeys the rule of law. If you say anything they come after you. That is no democracy. Democracy means allowing people to have different opinions.”

  • Motion for adjournment was a joint decision, says House leader

    Motion for adjournment was a joint decision, says House leader

    •Akande-Adeola, deputy differ on Tambuwal’s defection

    THE crack in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Caucus of the House of Representatives widened yesterday as the issue of the long adjournment became a subject of controversy.

    The House Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, said the adjournment was decided at the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha’s guest house a day prior to the defection of the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

    She also said she was left out of the defection plan, which she said the deputy speaker and the Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor, must have been aware of.

    But Ogor, in a separate interview with reporters, debunked the allegation, calling it a “figment of her imagination.”

    The guest house was also alleged to be where Ihedioha hosted the Speaker after his defection, though the deputy speaker has since refuted the claim.

    At a news conference on the issue yesterday, Akande-Adeola said there was need for her to clarify that the decision to adjourn till December 3 was not unilaterally.

    She also stressed that she was not aware of the defection, which she hinted must have been well-planned with the knowledge of other House leadership members,

    According to her, she was also not aware that Tambuwal was defecting last week Tuesday and hence could not have moved the adjournment to allow the Speaker defect or use it as a cover to forestall any backlash from PDP or other party members.

    She, however, said after the Speaker made his statement, she then knew that there was something that must have been planned that she was not aware of.

    Her words: “Just this morning (yesterday), I heard Hon. Osagie saying on NTA that the Leader moved the motion for adjournment and from the way he said, it was like something that was done unilaterally.

    “As you all know. It is my job as the Leader of the House to move motions for adjournment. But that adjournment that was moved on that particular day was not a usual adjournment. Why I said this is that because of the number of days for which the House adjourned.”

    She explained that prior to this, the leadership met the day before at a meeting in the deputy speaker’s guest house.

    “Before we adjourned that Tuesday, they had asked me to liaise with the Senate Leader to find out how long they will be going. That is the Senate. As you know, we always adjourn and come back at the same time. I liaised with him and the Senate Leader told me they will be adjourning on Tuesday to come back on the 4th of November, which was the following Tuesday ( yesterday).

    “So, I said okay. When I got to the meeting, I met all the members of the leadership except for Hon. Leo. And I asked where is my deputy? They said he was on his way from the airport. And he later joined us. The only other person who wasn’t there was Hon. Ahmed Murtkar, who sent a text that he wasn’t feeling well.

    “So, nine of us were present at the meeting. And the Speaker said this is a one item agenda meeting about the adjournment that we are going to have. He asked: ‘Leader, what did the Senate Leader say when you contacted him? I said the Senate Leader said they would be adjourning for one week from Tuesday till the following Tuesday, which is the 4th of November.

    “At that point, everybody raised different issues why we could not go for only one week; ranging from members have problems in their constituency, such as because of their tickets; because they could not be at two places at the same time; there will be no time and how many members have you seen in the chambers lately. All sorts of reasons were given.

    “At the meeting we had, nothing was mentioned whether he was moving or not, even though it was in the air; in the media. Everybody was talking about it. And since it was not announced at that particular time, I turned to my deputy and I said, Leo, is the Speaker not moving again? And he said, ‘he is not doing it again’. That was what he told me. And I am saying this without fear of anybody.

    “So, after the whole thing, I was hearing from different quarters that it was the Leader, who moved it unilaterally and all that. I thought it was necessary to clear the air on this. I have integrity and I am a very, very honourable person. And I will not say anything that has not happened. I don’t fear anybody. I fear only Almighty God.

    “And at the end of the session, the Speaker said, ‘Leader move for adjournment’. I still turned to the Deputy Speaker and said, is it as agreed? He said yes. And I got up and moved the adjournment. And he said Leo, second and he seconded. And it was at that point that the Speaker now made the statement about his defection.”

    But Ogor, in a separate interview with reporters, dismissed the House Leader’s insinuation that he and the deputy speaker were part of the plan of Tambuwal’s defection or that he kept her in the dark over the defection.

    He said: “If I was aware that the Speaker was going to defect, it becomes my responsibility to tell her when she asked. How would she state that I’m aware? Did I discuss it with her? Because she’s saying that I did not discuss it with her, then, how did she know? Because he or she that alleges, must be prepared to prove. But that is not the subject matter.

    “I wasn’t aware of it, and if I was aware of it, I would have mentioned it to her when she asked me. She asked me and I said look, I don’t think so.

    “And if you watch me clearly, I’ve always been stating that the Speaker is a member of the PDP and he remains a member of the PDP till he defects.

    “But in that day, there was no notion or sign that he was going to defect. So, for anyone to allege that Leo Okuweh Ogor, the deputy leader of the House was aware that the Speaker was going to defect is totally an imagination of that person.”

  • Tambuwal’s defection, Jonathan’s rage

    Tambuwal’s defection, Jonathan’s rage

    Except he and his aides, and perhaps a number of other people to whom the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, revealed his mind, no one else knows just how adequately the Speaker’s camp prepared for the furious reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan to the defection of the Sokoto State-born politician and lawyer. The Speaker himself knows the legal grounds on which he rests his provocative move, and may have in addition taken counsel from eminent jurists and other well-meaning and knowledgeable people in the country in order to come to a fair conclusion on the limits and possibilities of his defection. I also suspect that he took advice on what possible steps the president could take to counter what seems to Dr Jonathan a ploy to vitiate his re-election chances and render his hold on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) embarrassingly tenuous. Perhaps, too, Hon Tambuwal worked the House of Representatives to shore up the support he has enjoyed from the lower chamber since he became Speaker.

    If Hon Tambuwal took all these precautions, he would know that Dr Jonathan, in spite of his tame exterior, is a doughty fighter who jousts with a viciousness that contemptuously disregards the law, mocks the constitution, and despises every other ethical consideration that recommends itself to fairness, common sense and human decency. Dr Jonathan, since he ‘tasted blood’ in January 2012 during the fuel subsidy protests, has let himself go in affronting even the tenuous conventions upon which our society was founded but now totters. Never once a systematic fighter, or one inspired by great causes and lofty goals, the president has happily ignored the civilized world as they flinch at his actions and utterances. He fights brutally, ruthlessly, arbitrarily, and unconscionably. This, then, was the man Hon Tambuwal provoked to fury by defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last week. Let him be prepared; for since he became Speaker, and partly because of the circumstances of his adolescence and training, he has been unable to adapt himself to the appalling rules and predatory manners of the ruling party, not to say the deceptiveness and exhibitionism of Dr Jonathan.

    It is surprising that the police withdrawal of Hon Tambuwal’s security aides has become controversial. There is nothing controversial about it. The police themselves know they do not stand on firm ground to take the action they took against the Speaker. They cite a constitutional provision — Section 68 (1)(g); but there is nothing in that provision that enables or authorises the police to exercise the initiative they took so casually. Everyone knows that the cabal that rules Nigeria, with Dr Jonathan at its bitter core, has resolved they would stop at nothing to exterminate Hon Tambuwal, whether their action makes sense or not, or whether they are backed by law or not. They could do worse, as some reports suggest. The Jonathan crowd is expected to force a stalemate in the House of Representatives, tear the constitution to pieces, and let everyone know that the president should never be challenged, let alone wrong-footed. They have never been comfortable with the role of opposition parties in a democracy, but in their view  if they must tolerate them, they prefer to set the extra-constitutional rules by which they must operate.

    Other than a few lawyers and activists galled by the police action against Hon Tambuwal, some other activists, including the normally vocal Southwest interest groups, have spoken uncharacteristically in whispers, and hesitantly too. Their reticence seems to suggest they reluctantly condone the police action perhaps because the Speaker had joined the ‘wrong’ party, their worst regional enemy. But as this column has repeatedly warned, Nigeria is moving precipitously towards fascism, and the ominous steps that underscore this disposition are not being checked because the victims are other people, other parties, other crowds. Dr Jonathan has got away with too many constitutional infractions; if he gets away with this also, Nigerian democracy might begin to flounder, perhaps irretrievably. This is no hyperbole. We don’t have to like Hon Tambuwal, and we may loath the APC, but to turn a blind eye to Dr Jonathan’s frequent unconstitutional actions is to open ourselves, our businesses, our families and future generations to assault of the most heinous type.

    I do not think Hon Tambuwal should resign his position as Speaker. Let him instead test his popularity. Let the House of Representatives, acting independently in accordance with the rules of the House, determine the tenability of Hon Tambuwal’s position. Whether most of the members like their Speaker or not, I think they would however be unwise to cede their powers and veto, not to say their tastes and affections, to the misdirected Nigeria Police or the insular Jonathan presidency. Whether we like Hon Tambuwal’s defection or not, we must resist the presidency’s obvious manipulations of the House of Representatives. We must not feel guilty that Dr Jonathan does not appreciate the separation of powers doctrine, does not understand democracy as a concept, and is unable to appreciate the sanctity and indispensability of the opposition in sustaining and preserving our way of life and system of government.

    At a time when Dr Jonathan rides roughshod over the judiciary and undermines its effectiveness and independence, and abridges press freedom and free speech by impounding newspapers and obstructing their operations, and at a time when the Senate has become so pro-establishment that it has become so indistinguishable from the presidency, it is dangerous for the country and the members of the House of Representatives themselves to let the independence of the lower chamber be malevolently compromised. I feel like Cassandra already. But in the interest of Nigeria, Dr Jonathan must be restrained from continuing to jeopardise the peace and unity of Nigeria. He stubbornly sticks to his misfiring guns and his inoperable and undecipherable policies, many of them parochial, insensitive and paranoid. We must coax him into transferring his aggression and recalcitrance to fight the equally obstinate and vicious enemy, Boko Haram, against which he seems to have no answer and lacks the courage.

    What I find incomprehensible in all this, however, is why Hon Tambuwal has indulged in this high-wire politicking just to secure the governorship of his home state, Sokoto. That he needles the president remorselessly is not in doubt. That if he remained in the PDP he would be denied any ticket of his liking is also not in doubt. But given the cost of his defection, a cost that clearly transcends just the paper work involved or the principles he has had to sacrifice so much to sustain, it would have been admirable for the Speaker to take a shot at the presidency, a step I had advanced in this place and am prepared to defend and even promote. I recognise that seeking the governorship is safe and secure, and that if he should seek the presidential ticket of the APC and fail, he could be left with nothing. Notwithstanding his slight speech troubles, I have no doubt he has the eloquence, depth, wide perspective and character to seek the highest position in the land. He will bring to that office uncommon youthfulness, a can-do spirit, and a democratic disposition that none of his opponents, not even the gritty Gen Muhammadu Buhari, nor the uninspiring Dr Jonathan, would be able to gainsay.

    We must not lose sight of the danger constituted to the body politic by Dr Jonathan’s subversion of Nigeria’s security agencies, especially the subordination of the agencies to the ruling party. Nor must we lose sight of the fact that, so far, our democracy has been defended mainly by the Tambuwal-led House of Representatives. The incalculable sense of loss and futility we now feel viewing the president and his scheming aides plunder the House and defy the constitution would be cold comfort when time and events prove Dr Jonathan and his coterie of aides and advisers horribly wrong.

  • So, who is gloating over Tambuwal’s defection?

    So, who is gloating over Tambuwal’s defection?

    It is understandable if the outfoxed foxes in the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party chew their anger in loud silence as they ruethe day they allowed a relatively unassuming Hon. AminuTambuwal to plot his way into the highly influential seat of theSpeaker of the House of Representatives. If Knucklehead’s memory is not fading, Tambuwal’s emergence as Nigeria’s Number 4citizen in the 7th Assembly was anything but smooth. It was neither accidental, even though providence had a lot to do with it.The powerful forces in the PDP had anointed a woman candidatefrom the South-West, Hon. Adeola Akande (the current MajorityLeader), to be crowned as Speaker.

    It was meant to be a faitaccompli as Akande is said to be the favoured choice of formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjo following the failure of formerSpeaker Dimeji Bankole to make it back to the House. It was clearthen that, without the cooperation of the lawmakers from theAction Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress forProgressive Change in the Green Chamber, it would have beenpractically impossible for the PDP to foist a leadership on themembers. Tambuwal and his deputy, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha rodeon the crest of their popularity, political suaveness and generalacceptability to win their positions. Therefore, it is safe to presumethat they rode on the back of the tiger, to assume power.Perhaps, if the leadership of the ruling party had been tactful inhandling the dicey situation that the emergence of the Tambuwalleadership threw up in the House, it would not be mourningtoday, over the loss of one of its leading members to a reinvigorated opposition party.

    The leadership was too fixated on kickingTambuwal out of his seat by any means possible that it completely forgot to weigh the implications of burning its fingers at theend. Now, all the political filibustering has come back to haunt thesame set of people that ignited the fire of hatred in the first place.Question is: why is the executive always jittery of an independentlegislature in Nigeria? The answer, we all know, is not rocket science. We are far gone in our brand of prebendal politics to appreciate that democracy cannot thrive unless we chose to live by itsethos. It was not as if there were no opportunities to close ranksand forge forward in the interest of the nation.

    Those who thinkthe executive and legislature would operate a headmaster/pupilrelationship just could not stomach the ‘excesses’ of what theytermed an ‘overreaching’ House of Representatives that calls toquestion the action of the Presidency and its hangers-on. They forget easily that there is nothing in our laws, even as amended, thatties the legislature to the apron strings of whoever occupies theseat in Aso Rock. And the same applies for the charade going onin the states where state assembly members line up to drink papas crumbs off the table of state chief executives. This sacrilege, Iconfess, has gone on for far too long that it has become part of ourdemocratic process. Pity.Then, you ask: why the fret over Tambuwal’s defection to aparty that the PDP has pronounced as being dead on arrival andlacking the simple basics of internal democracy? Maybe the ruling party is afraid of the monster it created. It is in a desperate raceto escape its shadows.

    Unfortunately, a man has to die with hisshadows. This time, this behemoth has left the sore legs of theremains of a late soul hanging menacingly in the cemetery. SoChief Bode George, of all persons, could stand before a nationaltelevision and pontificate about the need for Tambuwal to resignas Speaker on the warped illogic that a lawmaker from the majority party should occupy the position? Where was George when alegislator from a minority party occupied the same position in thiscountry? Where was he when, in spite of the full deployment ofstate powers, Tambuwal emerged as the populist Speaker of the7th Assembly? Moreover, where is the law that says he must stepdown as Speaker when dozens of lawmakers had defected to different parties without losing any of the privileges? In addition, bythe way, is George morally qualified to vomit such atrocious gibberish about someone who has piloted the affairs of the House ofRepresentatives without any blemish for more than three years?

    While Bode George was whining on the television, the party’shollow gong, Chief Olisa Metuh, was busy drafting the dumbeststatement ever issued from Wadata House. Hear him: “After a thorough consideration of the matter (Tambuwal’s defection), theNational Working Committee came to a conclusion that theHonourable Speaker, as a responsible elected officer, knows fullwell what is needful and honourable of him since his new partyis in the minority. We are not unmindful of the fact that Hon.Tambuwal became Speaker on the platform of the PDP as thepolitical party with majority of seats in House of Representativesand this incontrovertible fact has not changed.”

    You know, there is something about selective amnesia thatmakes this town crier an object of pity. So Metuh, of all persons,could use such elevated language to persuade Tambuwal to dothe ‘needful?’ He could appeal to the conscience of the Speakerand boast about who is in control of majority seats in the NationalAssembly! Is this not the same Metuh that was beating about thebush when asked to justify why his party of self-crowned apostles of internal democracy, printed only one set of Nominationand Expression of Interest forms to pave the way for a single candidate amidst a throng of presidential aspirants? And if the PDPcontrols majority seats as claimed by Metuh, why can’t it command same members to begin a process that would lead to a kangaroo impeachment of Tambuwal? Could it be that the party isnot sure of forming a quorum or getting the appropriate numberof lawmakers that could lead to a smooth change of leadership inthe House? If the PDP could not foist a leadership on the Houseat a time when it thought it was fully in charge, how does it hopeto muster the number to force the will of the executive on the House now? I just hope any of sulking band of presidential apologists can answer these questions.

    Let me make one thing clear. This is not just about the moralityof Tambuwal’s defection. It is more about the charade we call politics here. Didn’t someone say what is sauce for the goose shouldalso be sauce for the gander? It would be apt if Metuh and his cotravellers in the PDP could define the forms and shapes of whatit means to “do the needful”. When Governor Olusegun Mimikodefected to the PDP after appropriating the governorship seat inOndo State on the platform of the Labour Party for more than sixyears, did Metuh ask him to vacate his position? Did any of thelawmakers that jumped ship with Mimiko lose their seats? Hasthere been a change of leadership in the structures of governancein Ondo State up till now? Is there any Senator or House ofRepresentatives member that has been removed or recalled on theexcuse that he defected to the ruling party?

    I almost cried blue murder when I learnt that Governor Godswill Akpabio ranted on and on about the need forTambuwal to vacate his seat as a man of honour and integrity. Bythe way, Akpabio, who doubles as the Chairman of the PDPGovernors’ Forum, is one of the problems with Nigeria.Sometimes, he places too much importance on himself and hismuch–vaunted uncommon transformation of the state that chokes from his stranglehold. Of course, there is nothing wrongwith a desire to play politics at the national level. It is just that Akpabio’s tactics are pedestrian, insipidly repulsive, queer andutterly despicable. If every other state chief executive talks recklessly like Akpabio regularly does, this country would have beenset ablaze by now. Here was a man who has turned his state intoa theatre of the absurd in a convoluted effort to impose his anointed candidate on the party in addition to grabbing, by hook andcrook, a Senatorial ticket, ordering Tambuwal to display integrityby vacating his seat. Anyway, I have always suspected that thewords, “honour and integrity”, do have malleable characteristicsin the minds of not-so-scrupulous politicians whose manipulativeinterpretations seem to have originated a jejune Nigerian lexiconof Political Acrobatics.

    Instead of practically living his life in Abuja to genuflect beforeThe Presidency, Akpabio would serve the people of his state better if he practices what he preaches. How much of internaldemocracy does he allow in Akwa-Ibom State where he reignslike one drunken oil Sheik with lots of money to throw around?Why has the ruling party, under his watch, witnessed a worrisome opprobrium to the point that the leading lights in the statehierarchy have threatened to pull out if his reign of terror continues unchecked by Abuja? What defence does Akpabio haveagainst the allegations by a former Governor of the state, ObongVictor Attah, that his 7-year reign has scripted “an uncommonhunger, anger and tension” in the consciousness of the people ofAkwa-Ibom? What kind of integrity can he lay claim to, when hisblood brother is said to be the Secretary of the PDP in the state?Why can’t physician Akpabio, who readily embraces anyone thatdefects to the PDP, heal himself now? Why can’t he remove thelog in his eyes before seeing the speck in another?

    However, in all this, the most inexcusable blunder over the Tambuwal matter came directly from the Office of the InspectorGeneral of the Police, Suleiman Abba, who, in one moment of outright idiocy, defended the immediate withdrawal of the Speaker’ssecurity aides on the tendentious excuse of his defection to theAPC. If there were any prize for dishonour, Abba would be theundisputed winner! To support his gloating over a matter that thepolice should not have interfered in, Abba said: “In view of therecent defection by the Right Honourable Aminu WaziriTambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of theFederal Republic of Nigeria, from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Having regard to the clear provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended,the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has redeployed its personnelattached to his office”.

    Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republicof Nigeria outlines how a member of the Senate or the House ofRepresentatives shall vacate his seat.  Specifically, it states thus:“being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by apolitical party, he becomes a member of another political partybefore the expiration of the period for which he is elected, provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a resultof a division in the political party of which he was previously amember or of a merger of two or more political parties or factionsby one of which he was previously sponsored.”

    Now, when did Nigeria Police become such an arbitrary andobviously biased interpreter of our laws? No doubt, while servingknown interests other than that of taxpayers, it has acted as accuser and jury in this matter! Besides, will anyone argue that the ruling party has remained a cohesive whole within which no factions exist now or, even when the New PDP commanded national attention?

    Oh, what a country! We all try to endure in a country cursedwith politicians who twist everything to justify brazen disregardfor citizens. What scares me mad is a country with a police forcethat manipulates the laws of the land to arm-twist citizens andentrench lawlessness. So much for all the claims of having regardsfor democratic ideals! Phew!