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After months of speculation and uncertainty, Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the House of Representatives, eventually dumped the ruling Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday, October 28, thereby causing uneasiness and anxiety among members of the ruling party
| By Olu Ojewale | Nov. 10, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
HIS defection had been a media speculation for several months. So, Nigerians were not really surprised when Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the House of Representatives, actually formally dumped the ruling Peoples Democratic Party for the rival, All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday, October 28. After stunning his colleagues with his defection, the speaker adjourned the sitting of the House to December 3. By his calculation, by the time the House resumes, the PDP would have been too busy to do anything to harm to his position as the speaker.
But the ruling party, which apparently is not taking it kindly with Tambuwal’s action appears to be all out to deal with him. On Thursday, October 30, the Nigeria Police withdrew his security details on the order of Sulaiman Abba, acting inspector general, citing Section 68 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended as reason. The section reads: “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if – (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”
Based on the section of the constitution, the federal government believes that Tambuwal should no longer be the speaker of the House. A government official who was not authorised to speak on the matter argued that the speaker contravened section (68)(1)(g) by defecting when there is a subsisting court injunction to the effect that there is no division in the PDP.
The source said that the decision to strip Tambuwal of all the rights and privileges of the speaker was taken by the Presidency and federal government based on the legal advice that Tambuwal had ceased to be the speaker by his defection to another party. Besides, the withdrawal of security details was meant to force Tambuwal to go to court. He said: “The withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details is in order. Section 68 (1)(g) made it clear that a lawmaker who defects when there is no division in his party shall vacate his seat. The legal advice is that the operational word there is ‘shall.’… It, therefore, means that based on that constitutional provision, Tambuwal is no longer a member of the House. Since he is no longer a member, then he cannot be the speaker.”
In a swift reaction to the police action, Tambuwal told the police boss that he had breached the law by ordering that his security details be withdrawn. In a statement issued and signed by Imam Imam, his media aide, said that the speaker received with shock and amazement the statement issued by the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters justifying the withdrawal of police security personnel attached to him Imam’s statement said: “Nothing can be further from the truth…For the avoidance of doubt the question of whether or not there is a division or faction in the PDP has been resolved by Lord Justice Faji of the Ilorin division of Federal High Court in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/605/2013 in which the court held that indeed there were factions in the PDP. Again in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/ 605/2013, the Sokoto division of the Federal High Court per Justice Aikawa, the judgment of the court was that there was not only division but faction in the PDP which later merged with the APC.
“As the number four citizen in the hierarchy of protocol in the country, the speaker is entitled to security protection by the security agencies, therefore, we see the action of the acting Inspector General of Police as not only contempt of the courts but a ploy to bring harm to the person of Tambuwal.”
The police action was said to have been based on the decision of a meeting held in Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Wednesday, October 29. The meeting called by President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have availed senior members of the PDP to take a common position on the defection of Tambuwal. The meeting had in attendance Adamu Mu’azu, national chairman of the PDP; Emeka Ihedioha, deputy speaker of the House; Leo Ogor, deputy leader of the House and Ndudi Elumelu, a member of the House from Delta State.
Some of the PDP governors who also took part in the meeting were Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa): Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe) and Sullivan Chime (Enugu). The rest were Anyim Pius Anyim, secretary to the government of the federation; Sambo Dasuki, national Security Adviser and Muhammed Adoke, SAN, attorney-general of the federation.
A source close to the meeting said the main agenda of the meeting was Tambuwal and how to get him to vacate his seat as speaker. The presence of Adoke and Dasuki at the meeting was said to help the meeting to review legal and security implications of the options available to the government.
In any case, the police action is not popular among many Nigerians. Femi Falana, SAN and human rights activist, condemned the police action, saying it was against the law and portended danger for the country’s democracy. He, therefore, advised the acting IG to immediately restore Tambuwal’s security details while reminding him of previous judicial decisions cautioning the Police against taking sides with political interest groups. “The withdrawal of the orderlies by the police authorities is a partisan demonstration of abuse power,” Falana said.
Vincent Ayogu, a lawyer based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, holds a similarly view. Ayogu told Realnews that it was not the duty of the police to interpret the law and act the way it had done without a court order. “I think what they should have done would have been to take the matter to court and get the court to direct that his security details should be withdrawn or that he has even lost his position as a member of the House of Representatives. So, if he loses his membership of the House automatically he has lost his position as the speaker of the House and when you are not the speaker any longer, there will be no security attached to you. It is for the court to interpret the provisions of the constitution and not the police. That is why the courts are there,” he said.
The lawyer warned the PDP not to take the matter into its hand by trying to prevent him from going back to the House. He said that would be a mark of impunity, which would not augur well for the country. “Until court declares so, the PDP has no right to prevent him from entering the House. The PDP is just a political party and not the manager of the National Assembly,” he said.
Apparently shocked by Tambuwal’s action, the PDP had, shortly after the announced defection, called on him to resign as speaker. The party also, through Olisa Metuh, its national publicity secretary, argued that since Tambuwal became the speaker on the ticket of the “majority party” (the PDP), he had no right to continue to occupy the seat.
But the House, on Tuesday, October 27, said that the PDP and most of the commentators on the issue were “ignorant” of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the House standing orders. Victor Ogene, chairman of the House committee on media and public affairs, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues in the House, said Tambuwal did not breach any law in defecting to the APC. Ogene said there was no provision in the constitution prescribing that the speaker must be elected from among the majority party members, citing Section 50(1) (b) of the constitution to buttress his argument. He said: “The clear provisions of Section 50(1) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution easily settle the worries regarding the continued speakership of Tambuwal – ‘There shall be a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.’’’
He, therefore, said that the speaker was elected as the representative of the “generality of Nigerians” and not necessarily because he belonged to a particular political party.
On the provision of Section 68(1) (g) of the constitution being quoted to show that Tambuwal was no longer a member of the House on the account of his defection to another party, Ogene said that the matter was still awaiting judicial decision. He added: “It is common knowledge that following the defection of 37 members of the House in December 2013, from the PDP to the APC, there have been multiple court cases on the matter, thus rendering it subjudice to discuss any likely outcome. Everyone is thus enjoined to await the final judicial pronouncement on the issue of defection, which has afflicted virtually all political parties in the land.” Besides, he warned the PDP against interfering with the lawmakers’ “privilege” and constitutionally-guaranteed freedom to choose their leaders.
But not everyone is in support of Tambuwal’s action. Cairo Ojougbo, national vice-chairman of the party in the South-South, vowed that the party would do everything within its powers to regain the speakership of the House. Speaking to journalists at the national headquarters of the PDP in Abuja, Ojougboh said there was no way Tambuwal and other defectors from the party would be allowed to go away with the party’s mandate. He said: “PDP is a very disciplined party. If you come and steal in the PDP and use the PDP to elevate yourself and get into office when the time comes, God will get you out like the issue of Tambuwal. You can see how God has exposed him. The PDP will do everything within the law to regain its seat and that is what we are going to do in Edo and Rivers states as well. We are going back to the South-South to regain our seats.”
Although the news about his impending defection was all over the place in the media, Tambuwal made it as dramatic as he could on the memorable day. He said before the House adjourned on Tuesday, October 27: “Before I hit the gavel on the motion for adjournment, I want to make this formal announcement to this House. Based on the provision of the 1999 constitution and having regards to the development of the PDP in my own state, Sokoto State, I hereby announce my membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Let me register my profound appreciation to all of you, my colleagues, for the unflinching support you have continued to extend to me for the overall national interest and development of our democracy.”
Immediately after the announcement, members of the party in the House assured the speaker of a good fight. Mulikat Adeola-Akande, majority leader, gave the hint when she said, that they were waiting for a directive from the party’s leadership. She said: “This is a party affair. Members take decision on the floor based on party. So, the party will take decision at the appropri¬ate time.”
However, getting rid of Tambuwal may not be as easy as the PDP leadership thinks. Available statistics shows that the PDP does not command majority in the House. In fact, based on the recent defection, the ruling party has only about 160 members as against 195 members for the APC. The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has about three members while Accord Party has two members. With this, Tambuwal’s supporters seem to be confident that any impeachment move against him will not succeed because the House needs a total of 240 members to effectively remove him from office.
Even on a legal ground, Tambuwal is believed to have the legal justification for leaving the PDP at this time. A lawmaker who is familiar with the political situation in Sokoto State said the current factionalisation of Sokoto State chapter of the PDP was enough reason for the speaker to change his party. He recalled that Tony Anenih, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, visited Sokoto and held a meeting with leaders of the factions of the party in the state but failed. Besides, the lawmaker pointed at the defection of Governor Aliyu Wammako to the APC as an evidence of the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party. “Series of developments that had taken place in recent times clearly show that all is not well with the PDP in Sokoto. The constitution says a member of any party can defect to another party if there is a faction in his party. Tambuwal is leaving the PDP because there is crisis rocking Sokoto PDP right now. There is factionalisation of the party. Chief Tony Anenih was in Sokoto recently to resolve the crisis but he failed. The governor of the state left the party for APC because of the crisis. Tambuwal is leaving because of the same reason,” he said. Hence, he argued that Tambuwal was merely reacting to the political development in his Sokoto State.
So, who gets the last laugh? The drama is just unfolding.
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