Featured, Politics
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Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the House of Representatives, who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress on Thursday, October 28, is fighting tooth and nail to remain in office, while the PDP is equally plotting to get him out
| By Olu Ojewale | Nov. 17, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
IT IS now a battle of wit between Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the House of Representatives, who recently defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the PDP hierarchy, plotting to remove from office. To stop his removal from office, in a case he jointly filed with the APC at the Federal High Court, Tambuwal accused Emeka Ihedioha, his deputy, Mohammed Adoke, attorney-general of the federation and minister of Justice; the PDP and Adamu Mu’azu, national chairman of the party, of plotting to remove him from office by asking the House, which he had adjourned to sit. In an affidavit supporting an ex-parte application he filed at the high court, he alleged that the PDP, Mu’azu, Adoke and Ihedioha, defendants in the suit, were working secretly to reconvene the House before December 3, in order to remove him as speaker. He also stated that the withdrawal of his security details on October 30, by Suleiman Abba, inspector-general of Police, was also prompted by the defendants.
Tambuwal stated that, despite the pendency of a suit he filed on Friday, the defendants were still bent on carrying through their threat to also remove him as a member of the House. He, therefore, asked the court to restrain the House from reconvening earlier than December 3, the day he adjourned for the sitting of the House.
In his ruling, Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Monday, November 3, the presiding judge gave an order for the maintenance of the status quo pending the hearing of the substantive hearing in the case slated for Friday, November 7. But the matter could not go on because the counsel representing the PDP hierarchy informed the court that there was another suit challenging the jurisdiction of the court hearing the case. Mohammed, therefore, ruled that his initial order that the House should not reconvene subsists and that all the parties should allow the status quo to remain until the matter on jurisdiction is settled. He promised to give the matter an accelerated hearing.
The judge had, on Monday, directed all the defendants in the matter to appear before him on Friday, November 7, and also directed that the defendants be served with the ex parte motion and copies of the enrolled order.
Mohammed said the defendants needed to appear in court to show cause why the prayers sought by Tambuwal and the APC should not be granted. The other defendants in the suit are the House of Representatives, the IG and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Sunday Ameh, SAN, and counsel for the speaker and the APC, had while moving the application, urged the court to protect the subject matter of the suit which they had filed on Friday, October 31, challenging the alleged plan by the PDP to remove Tambuwal as speaker and declare his seat as a member of the House vacant. The lawyer told the court that granting the orders would help preserve the position of Tambuwal as speaker, his membership of the House and his security which were all under threat.
He also told the court that the PDP had summoned Ihedioha and its other members in the House for the purpose of reconvening the House and removing Tambuwal as speaker. The lawyer added that it was unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void for the PDP to make any move that could lead to the resumption of the House.
The APC caucus, through four of its members had also on Monday filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order restraining the principal officers of the House from re-convening without recourse to the speaker. The four members are Gbajabiamila, Samson Osagie, Suleiman Kawu and Garba Datti.
Listed as defendants in the case are Ihedioha; Mulikat Akande, majority leader; Leo Ogor, deputy majority leader as well as Ishaka Bawa and Muktar Mohammed, clerk of the National Assembly and clerk of the House respectively. Other defendants are the PDP, the IG and the AGF.
In the suit filed on their behalf by Mahmud Magaji, SAN, the plaintiffs asked the court to, among other prayers, declare that the House could not be reconvened without the consent of the speaker. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
At a news conference addressed by the caucus, it argued that neither President Goodluck Jonathan nor the PDP had the powers to reconvene the House or accomplish any plans to remove Tambuwal. Femi Gbajabiamila, minority leader, who led the caucus members to the news conference shortly after filing the suit, accused the PDP leaders of harassment and intimidation. The caucus asked why the recent defection of the speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly from the Labour Party to the PDP was not considered an offence by the Presidency and the PDP.
Gbajabiamila said: “Let us make this abundantly clear; the legislature is a separate but equal arm of government. It is not inferior nor is it subservient to the Executive. Their powers are separated under the constitution and it can never be an extension or department of the Presidency or PDP. Just as the legislature cannot regulate the workings of the presidency or determine for the president when he should call Federal Executive Council meetings … so also can the Presidency not determine for the House when to reconvene or meet.”
But Ogor captured the reaction of the PDP caucus in House when he said: “What I will tell the APC members, especially Femi (Gbajabiamila) is that he should use his head, not his mouth too much.” He said that the “confrontational approach” adopted by the APC caucus in “handling this matter will not get them anywhere.”
At the Senate sitting on Wednesday, David Mark, president of the Senate, lamented the withdrawal of the security aides of Tambuwal. He said: “We are not to interfere in the internal affairs of each house. However, as the chairman of the National Assembly, I cannot fold my arms or pretend that all is well about the current crisis. I am therefore going to do all I can to resolve the current impasse. Furthermore, the matter is already in a court of law, we cannot therefore discuss the issues here. I want to assure all of you that I will do the needful to protect and defend the legislature at all costs.”
Nonetheless, Adolphus Wabara, former Senate president, in an interview asked Tambuwal to resign honourably for his defection to another party. “If he now sits down and finds that his APC is in the minority, he should just resign. Since what he wants is to be the governor of Sokoto State, then he should go there to face that. Immediately, the PDP will elect another speaker. He should not overheat the polity. He is a gentleman that is loved by many. I also love him, no matter that he has left my party. He is a good fighter, but he should not mess up his good name by clinging to power unnecessarily. Otherwise, if he gets impeached, he will probably not even make the governorship anymore because it will tarnish his image. If he allows himself to be impeached, then he cannot even run for the governorship of Sokoto State. So, he should just resign and wish Nigerians well.”
However, it was not the defection of Tambuwal that seems to be causing controversies but the police decision to withdraw his security aides. Many notable senior advocates of Nigeria and organisations have also faulted the police on the law about the withdrawal of his security aides. Femi Falana, SAN, in a petition to the IGP, accused him of bias, citing other instances ignored by the police.
The Nigeria Bar Association and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, even described the removal as unconstitutional and shameful. They demanded immediate restoration of Tambuwal’s security aides and all the rights and privileges accruing to him as the speaker. Still, at the press time, the security aides were yet to be restored.
Indeed, since Tuesday, November 5, Tambuwal has been driving himself to office and has also been presiding over legislative matters. Speaking at a political function in Osogbo, Osun State, he said that he would not be intimidated by either the police or the PDP. His words: “Since the beginning of the public drama in Abuja, I have not made any public appearance or comments on it. Now that I am here, I will take the advantage of the ceremony to thank Nigerians, lovers of democracy, our true friends, members of human rights societies and others for the support extended to me on the matter.
“Since the matter is in court, I will not say much, but I will draw public attention to what is public knowledge. Before my defection to the APC, the governor of Ondo State defected alongside with the speaker of the state legislature. I believe there was no pronouncement from the IGP to the effect that the speaker lost his seat.”
Tambuwal had adjourned the House to December 3 soon after he announced his defection, on Thursday, October 30. But the PDP, expressing displeasure over the speaker’s action, had reportedly directed it caucus to resume legislative proceedings under the leadership of Ihedioha.
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