Tag: Tambuwal’s security

The Federal Government has served the Supreme Court’s order on the leadership of the National Assembly to stop the legislature from overriding President Goodluck Jonathan’s veto on amendments to the 1999 Constitution.

The service will halt moves today by the Senate and the House of Representatives to gazette the amendments and pass the alterations into law without presidential assent.

According to sources, the court order, including the ruling of the apex court, was served on the Senate President David Mark and the House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on Friday.

It was learnt that the ruling was personally signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.

The order specifically states that all the parties should maintain the status quo.

“This means the National Assembly is expected to stay action on constitution amendments until the determination of the substantive suit. The Senators and House members cannot in any manner gazette or go ahead to override the President’s veto,” a Presidencial source said yesterday.

“We have heard reports of plans by Senators and Representatives to defy the order of the Supreme Court. If they disobey court order, they will be setting a bad precedent. Some of their leaders also risk  being jailed if they are contemptuous  of the court,” he added, pleading not tobe named because he is not permitted to talk to the media.

Another source said: “Should the National Assembly override the President’s veto, the Federal Government may return to the apex court .

“Once a matter is in court, it is subjudice to act on it. And Order 53 (5) of the Senate Standing Rules states that ‘reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending in such a way as might in the opinion of the president of the Senate prejudice the interest of parties thereto.”

A Senator said the National Assembly will be guided by national interest and not “judicial ambush”.

The lawmakers, it was learnt, are to meet on options to override the President’s veto “because these amendments are just too fundamental to be halted as a result of judicial process”, he said, adding:

“By Tuesday, we will be able to take a decision. We know the National Assembly leadership will guide us accordingly.”

A principal officer of the Senate, who pleaded not to be named because of what he described as the “sensitivity” of the matter, said: “We learnt the ruling of the Supreme Court has been  made available to our leadership.

“Since it is a legal matter, we will seek advice on the next line of action.”

Following disagreement on amendments to the Constitution, the Attorney-General of the Federation applied to the Supreme Court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the lawmakers from taking any further step towards passing the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alteration) Act, 2015 into law, pending the final determination of the suit earlier filed before the court.

Jonathan vetoed the amendments to the constitution in a seven page letter to the Senate President and the House Speaker.

The President listed some errors noticeable in the amendments. They are:

•    Non-compliance with the threshold specified in Section 9(3) of the 1999 Constitution on amendments;

•alteration to constitution cannot be valid with mere voice votes unless supported by the votes of not less than four-fifths majority all members of National Assembly and two-thirds of all the 36 State Houses of Assembly;

•right to free basic education and primary and maternal care services imposed on private institutions;

•flagrant violation of the doctrine of separation of powers;

•unjustified whittling down of the Executive powers of the Federation vested in the President by virtue of Section 5(1) of the 1999 Constitution;

•30 days allowed for assent of the President; and

•limiting expenditure in default of appropriation from six months to three months.

The others are:

•creation of the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation distinct from the Accountant General of the Federal Government;

•empowering National Economic Council to appoint the Accountant-General of the Federation instead of the President;

•allowing the National Judicial Council (NJC) to appoint the Attorney-General of the Federation rather than the President; and

•unwittingly whittling down the discretionary powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Razak Atunwa, has described the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) as an act of gross rascality.

Hon. Atunwa told reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital yesterday that the IGP’s action was “improper, unfortunate and unconstitutional.”

Atunwa, a lawyer, said: “The issue whether or not he is entitled to defect to another party with or without consequence is a matter to be interpreted solely by the court. The rules are clear, and that is once he is a speaker, he should remain the speaker and should have all the necessary security details.

“He has not been impeached. He has not been removed. No court has declared his seat vacant. Nothing of that nature has occurred. For me, it is an act of gross rascality by the federal government and particularly the Inspector General of Police.

“The reaction we learnt was that as of yesterday his security has been withdrawal from him. For me, it is most unfortunate. It is improper and unconstitutional. He, as we speak now, remains the Speaker of the House of Representatives and therefore, he is entitled to all the appurtenances of that office, regardless of party affiliation.”

He congratulated Tambuwal over his decision to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). “I think, he is the man who put his money where his mouth is. He is a man who stands for righteousness and what is right. He believes in it and he has taken the necessary and right action,” he said.

On the criticisms launched against the state government by the Minister of National Planning, Dr Abubakar Suleiman, Atunwa said: “The Minister for National Planning has an obsession for attacking Senator Bukola Saraki. I read in a lengthy interview in one of the dailies recently what he had to say. He is a minister for the entire nation. I do not think it is proper. It is rather not decorous for him to be attacking personalities.

“I cannot fathom a developed system in a developed world where a national minister will be discussing and attacking personalities. I do not think that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom (UK) or Secretary of State in United States discusses personalities whatever party affiliations they may have.

“I ask myself the question: doesn’t this minister have any work to do? He does not have files on his table to treat? Doesn’t he have the ministry to run?

“This country has issues too deal with. We are sixth in the world in terms of oil export. We are 10th in terms of export of natural gas, yet this country is economically regressed.

“Eighty per cent of government revenue comes from oil and gas. “Yet we have neither adequate infrastructure nor progress to boast of. Our economic growth is stunted and this is largely due to corruption lack of corruption and lack of transparency.

“The Transparency International Corruption perception Index of 2013/14 rated Nigeria as top 25 in the world most corrupt countries. It says that the country’s budgetary provisions and processes are zero in terms of openness and transparency.”

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal was yesterday stripped of his security aides – an action that provoked anger in the land.

Tambuwal dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday.

The withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security at midnight came after a meeting at the Presidential Villa between some government officials and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The police confirmed the withdrawal of the Speaker’s security aides.

The police said they were only following Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The police and security aides of the Speaker were withdrawn at midnight based on a directive from the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, who is a lawyer.

It was gathered that the Speaker was not informed about the “sudden” action.

According to sources, some of the police aides walked up to the Speaker and told him that they had been recalled.

It was learnt that the development left the Speaker stranded at midnight, prompting a distress call to friends and associates.

A highly-placed source said:  “Early this morning, few minutes after midnight to be precise, top level security report informed the Speaker that orders had been given from above for the withdrawal of his security detail.

“Shortly afterwards, the police escort, police detail and other security apparatchik of the Speaker were recalled.

“For many hours, the Speaker was without security. He made a distress call to friends and associates who defied the night to be with him,” the source said.

Another source said the top level security report also hinted that the withdrawal of the security aides was allegedly in anticipation of a pronouncement by a court to declare Tambuwal’s seat vacant.

A principal officer of the House, who spoke in confidence, said the decision to withdraw Tambuwal’s security was taken at a meeting at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday shortly after a meeting on his defection and presence at the Extra-Ordinary National Convention of the APC.

It was gathered that the meeting, which was attended by top government officials and PDP chieftains, opted to enforce Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) without a pronouncement by the court.

At the meeting were members of the National Working Committee of the PDP, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Muhammed Bello Adoke, some PDP governors as well as members of the House of Representatives from the party.

The tumultuous welcome accorded the Speaker at the Convention and the overwhelming outpouring of goodwill from the public may have rattled the Presidency.

“It was agreed that the Speaker should be put on the defensive instead of the Presidency and the PDP being intimidated by Tambuwal and the opposition.”

The police said they acted in compliance with Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The police confirmed the withdrawal in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Ag. CP Emmanuel C. S Ojukwu psc.

The statement said: “In view of the recent defection by the Right Honourable Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal, CFR, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from the People Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and having regard to the clear provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has redeployed its personnel attached to his office.”

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s colleagues, lawyers and others were angry yesterday over the police’s withdrawal of his security details.

Tambuwal on Tuesday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) Dakuku Peterside said: “Rt Hon. Tambuwal represents an institution which is representative of Nigerians. That the institution can be taken for a ride shows the degree of impunity that pervades the land.

“This level of desperation is unheard of in our recent history. If Nigerians don’t rise up and guard this democracy, they may wake up one morning to find out that the most important to us; our freedom to make choices is gone. We have never had it this bad. PDP government do not mean well for Nigeria.”

Minority Whip Samson Osagie said:  “It’s surprising that the Nigerian Police has admitted that the Speaker’s security details were withdrawn on account of his defection to APC.

“It smacks of crash ignorance of the Constitution and parliamentary convention on the part of the Nigerian Police to declare that our own Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the People’s Speaker has ceased to be Speaker.

“It is an act of desperation and despondency for the ruling party to want to use the police to harass and intimidate the Nigerian Speaker on account of his choice of political party.

“Why did the police not withdraw police security from Dr. Olusegun Mimiko when he left Labour Party for PDP?

“Let it be known to the Nigeria Police that Aminu Waziri Tambuwal remains Speaker House of Representatives until he is removed by 2/3 majority of the house members.

“We members of the APC caucus advised the police to thread with caution as we are not in a banana republic where no law operates. We urge the Acting IGP to seek legal advice to determine whether this action of the police can be justified in Law.”

Solomon Adeola, Chairman House Committee on Public Accounts said: The action of the police is an affront on the constitution of the country that further confirms the danger-in-waiting for our democratic dispensation.

“Tambuwal still remains the Speaker and has not been removed or impeached from office.

“I want to say that the constitution cited by the police for its action has nothing to do with the defection because it is clear about who can be and how a Speaker of the House can emerge.

“There was no part of the constitution, even our House rules that says the Speaker must be from the majority party.

“Rather, what the law says is that the Speaker can be elected from members of the House, whether from majority or minority.

“We will take this to the public domain and let Nigerians be the judge since the police is becoming the prosecutor and the judge at the same time.

“Looking at it from another angle, this might be the stroke Tambuwal needs to get to the top.

“I will also implore all Nigerians not to keep quiet about this but speak up about this despicable action of the police.

“This is because, as the number four man, Tambuwal’s life has been exposed and endangered if we consider the security situation in the country at this period.

“We are all watching and it is our prayer that the details will be restored within 24 hours, else, this will be setting a dangerous precedence and things will never be the same with our democracy again.”

Chairman, House Committee on Anti-Corruption Abiodun Faleke said:  “I’m surprised that they (PDP) can go that low. They want to expose him to danger, but God will stand by him. He (Tambuwal) is a people’s Speaker and the people will provide security for him at all times,” he said.

Deputy Minority Leader Suleiman Kawu Sumaila (APC, Kano) said  the withdrawal of security details is capable of taking Nigeria 50 years backward.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Kawu said President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government is destroying democracy and gradually plunging the country into despotism.

He said: “When people are
not allowed to exercise
their democratic rights as enshrined in the constitution, then there is no difference between this government and military regimes.

“I call on all pro-democracy activists at all levels to rise up against the government and its despotic tendencies.

“We will continue to monitor as events unfold but definitely we won’t allow this to go like that when we resume in December.

“Even if another election will conduct today for the office of the Speaker, Tambuwal will still win.

“Nigerians should hold the presidency responsible for anything that happens to Tambuwal having withdrawn his security details”.

APC in Rivers State also condemned the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details.

In a statement in Port Harcourt by its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the party described the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details as “executive rascalism and abuse of the country’s constitution.”

The party urged Nigerians “to condemn this affront on the fourth citizen of our nation and insult on our representatives”, adding that it is the constitutional right of Tambuwal to freely associate with any party of his choice.

The party said Tambuwal can only be removed by impeachment by the 240 members of the House.

The party advised the PDP to accept the defection of Tambuwal as one of those hard realities of life.

   The National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chewas Okorie faulted the decision.

To Okorie, the decision is an unfortunate development “because at this point in time Tambuwal remains the Speaker of the House of Representatives.” He said it is wrong for the government to strip him of the police protection, which he is entitled to merely because he opted to leave the ruling party for the opposition.

“My advice to the police is to try not to present itself as a partisan institution. Any harm that befalls Tambuwal as a result of this development will be catastrophic. We do not need such tension, because it could worsen the already bad security situation in the country,” he said.

Former Lagos State Commissioner of Police Ababakar Tsav said it is wrong for Jonathan to be tele-guiding the police.

“It is wrong. The fact that he has moved to another political party does not mean that automatically he is no longer the Speaker and is not entitled to police protection. For God’s sake, we don’t have a government in this country. They are thugs,” Tsav told one of our correspondents on phone.

“The police are supposed to abide by the rules of engagement. They should do what the law requires them to do, which is to provide security to every public office holder. They have no right to withdraw his security details because he has joined another political party.“

A civil society group, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) urged Jonathan to order the immediate restoration of the security details.

 In a statement jointly issued by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, it said the news “with the utmost shock”.

The group said: ‘’When have the serving security chiefs become members of the Federal House of Representatives that they are adopting this extreme measure to get at the office and person of the Speaker for changing his membership of the national ruling party? We must defend the integrity of the armed security organs by not letting the commanding officers dabble into the naked arena of partisan politics. This action they have taken has damaged in a very comprehensive dimension the image and democratic credentials of Nigeria in the eyes of members of the international community and must be remedied by Mr President immediately.’

“By merit the Speaker of the Nigerian Parliament ought to be provided adequate security of his life and property especially when he is occupying such a high office in an increasingly unsecured terrain such as we are experiencing with the heightened spate of violence and terrorism all across the large segments of the Nigerian nation. We initially did not believe that the security details of the Speaker have actually been withdrawn but upon further inquiry we were indeed told that the security operatives attached to the Speaker was surreptitiously withdrawn. We view this as one of those primitive operational styles of the military reminiscent of the long gone dictatorships.  We hereby urge Mr President to order the immediate restoration of the security details to the person and office of the Speaker without further delay. For now and until there is a substantive and binding decision of the competent court of law on the defection of the Speaker, he remains the defacto and dejure Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives just as all the respects due to the office and holder of that high office must continue to be observed. We believe that President Jonathan as a democrat will investigate the remote and immediate circumstances surrounding this illegal and unconstitutional primitive and extreme reactionary measures adopted by the hierarchy of the nation’s security community against the person and office of the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Mr Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.”

The Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) kicked against the withdrawal of the security aides to the Speaker.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, PPA National Chairman Peter Ameh  said it was wrong for the police to have taken such action.

He said: “They are acting in the wrong way. Most times they do this to bring the president to bad light.  I am very sure the president is not aware of this.

 “The man has moved; they should go to the court of law to seek how to resolve it. It is not in the hands of the police to finally determine the situation on ground.”

He also queried the rationale behind the action since defection has become the order of the day in Nigeria.

He added:  “Let us not con
tinue to waste speeches
when things affect us directly. We should see the Nigerian police as police that is for all of us, to protect every citizen.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, George Oguntade, said the Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba misapplied the law in withdrawing Tambuwal’s security aides.

He said the IG can only act based on an order of court and is not obligated to interpret the Constitution on his own volition.

Oguntade said: “I have no doubt in my mind that the action of the Acting IG of Police is wrong and certainly cannot be predicated upon the provisions of Section 68(1) (g) of the Constitution as he purports to do.

“As a preface, it is important to restate that the police institution should detach itself from any involvement in partisan politics?. Its constitutional role and functions are clearly delineated.

“Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended simply requires that a member of the Senate or House of Representatives who was elected on the platform of one political party should vacate his seat in the House if he defects to another political party before the expiration of the tenure under which he was elected. Provided that the change of party was not occasioned by a merger of parties. This provision is quite clear and imposes no duty or obligation whatsoever on the IG of Police.

“In the event that the Speaker does not vacate his seat as the Constitution clearly enjoins him to do, the necessary legal machinery will then be invoked to enforce the provisions of the Constitution.

“It is only when he has been lawfully removed by an order of court that he would no longer be entitled to security details and then the acting IG will be entitled to act.

“By acting now, the acting IG has acted prematurely and unconstitutional. In my mind, this kind of action does not augur well for the upcoming general elections.”

The Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Service and Establishment, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, said: “The sheer petulant desperation of the PDP-led Jonathan administration has assumed a suffocating trend for Nigeria’s democracy that if not quickly nipped in the bud will make democratic practices a sad relic in the nation’s history.

Ojudu said the PDP-led Federal Government had initially been a bit circumspect, but had now thrown caution to the wind owing to frustration brought about by the crumbling of its character-deficient political party.

He said: “It is true that it is not an easy task given their stolen funds-serviced robust war chest, but all this would amount to naught if Nigerians unite in purpose and determination to fight this monster. A people driven by purpose and determination would defeat the strongest of armies. Already, they are in disarray and not properly thinking. All it requires to send them to oblivion is to vote massively against them next year and ensure that our votes are not stolen.”

Ojudu said right-thinking Nigerians must shun ethnic jingoism and political differences to free the country from the toothless gnaw of the PDP and the Jonathan presidency.

He said: “It is true that it is not an easy task given their stolen funds-serviced robust war chest, but all this would amount to nought if Nigerians unite in purpose and determination to fight this monster. A people driven by purpose and determination would defeat the strongest of armies. Already, they are in disarray and not properly thinking. All it requires to send them to oblivion is to vote massively against them next year and ensure that our votes are not stolen,” Ojudu added.

Ojudu lambasted the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies for withdrawing Tambuwal’s security details, adding that it is saddening that rather than preserve democracy in the country, the security agencies have chosen to team up with oppressors of the people, forgetting that they are paid with tax payers’ money.

He said should Nigeria’s democracy be truncated with state-backed acts of impunity, the security agencies should be aware that it would be on the front row of whatever attendant ugliness.

Ojudu maintained that it was strange that the Police has now taken on the role of the judiciary by interpreting the constitution, a role it forgot to assume when Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko crossed over from Labour Party into the PDP’s sinking ship.

He commended the Speaker of the House of Representatives, noting that while history would remember him as a hero who shunned manna to be on the side of the people, his traducers would be remembered as villains who terrorised the people with stolen petro-dollars.