Adesuwa Tsan, Bayo Oladeji, Bode Gbadebo and Christiana Nwaogu, Chibuzo Ukaibe, Donald Ojogo, Edegbe Odemwingie
— Oct 31, 2014 | 2 Comments
Strong indications have emerged that President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are unhappy with the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, over the latter’s private reception for Speaker Aminu Tambuwal a few hours after the speaker defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday.

The reception which was said to have taken place at the deputy speaker’s guest house on Pope John Paul Street, off Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja, few hours after the mini-national convention of the APC, was attended by most members of APC in the House.

Ihedioha has, however, dismissed the report as ‘not sensible’ while Tambuwal directed all enquiries on the matter to the deputy speaker’s men.

The reception, which was initially meant to be a private one for Tambuwal, was later ‘invaded’ by other members of the lower chamber, including some PDP members, a reliable source told our correspondent.

A presidential aide told our correspondent yesterday in Abuja that the deputy speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, had been asked to explain which master he had elected to serve “because we cannot understand why he chose to host Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to a warm reception a few hours after he defected from our party to APC.

“Is the deputy speaker with us or he is planning to move to the APC with his boss? The PDP deserves an answer from him.’’

The presidential aide asserted that, at this ‘critical moment of political decision,’ President Jonathan wanted to be very clear on whose side the deputy speaker belonged.

The presidential aide continued: “You know this man (referring to Ihedioha) cannot be trusted; he has consistently worked against the party in the past. He now appears to be working for the PDP because of his 2015 political interest. But even at that, we do not know where he truly belongs.”

When contacted, the media adviser to Tambuwal, Malam Imam Imam, said all clarifications on the issue should be referred to Ihedioha’s aides.

The chief press secretary to the deputy speaker, Oke Epia, however, described the report as inconsequential.

“This is a non-issue; are those behind this saying the deputy speaker would want to do that to show that he is in APC? I can tell you that this is not a sensible thing at all,”Epia said.

The development came as the presidency was said to have directed the Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to withdraw their security personnel attached to the speaker for defecting from the PDP to the APC.

The acting inspector-general of police, Suleiman Abba, confirmed the redeployment of the police personnel attached to Tambuwal on Wednesday.

The force public relations officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, hinged the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides on Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Security details attached to the speaker were said to have been withdrawn yesterday morning.

After his defection on Wednesday, Tambuwal vowed to work with his new party to dislodge the ‘PDP cabal’ from power in the 2015 general election.

“We came to work this morning and what we found was that all the security men did not report for duty. We are puzzled but that is the situation,” a National Assembly aide said.

Tambuwal: Mr President, show better understanding of democracy – APC

The APC has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to show better understanding of democracy by immediately restoring the police security details that the inspector-general of police (acting IGP) withdrew from the speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC described the withdrawal of the speaker’s security details as an usurpation of the role of the judiciary by the police boss, especially bearing in mind that the question of the interpretation of Section 68(1)(g) of the constitution he anchored his illegal act on was before the courts for resolution.

The party said that, for the avoidance of doubt, the position, including the manner a person becomes the speaker of the House of Representatives, is to be found in the constitution, and no constitutional provision or legislation says membership of the ruling or dominant party in the House is a pre-requisite.

Furthermore, as the number four citizen of the nation, the security detail and apparatuses attached to the person of the speaker were not based on his lineage, person and or political leaning, but on account of the position and the protection required for that position and in Nigeria’s best interest.

“This unfortunate use and deployment of Nigeria’s security forces in a partisan and political way portends danger and further weakens important institutions of governance and jeopardises national security. Under President Jonathan, we now have a Police Force that is monitoring and making conclusions with respect to party membership, qualification, of an otherwise elected official. This is unheard of in any decent democracy,” the party said.

The APC, therefore, enjoined President Jonathan to respect and comply with the law.

“We reject this meddling in the affairs of the legislature, especially given the resolution of President Jonathan and his close advisers yesterday at their meeting to ask the deputy speaker, Mr Emeka Ihedioha, to unlawfully reconvene the House before the adjourned date.

“May we remind President Goodluck Jonathan that under the House Rules, only a resolution by all principal officers of the House and not even the speaker of the House, can reconvene the House before the adjourned date not to talk of the deputy speaker?”

Tambuwal: We are not aware – PDP

The PDP yesterday said it was not aware that the security detail of Speaker Tambuwal had been withdrawn.

Reacting to the situation, spokesman of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the party was not aware of the development.

When told that a statement to that effect was released by the police, he replied: “We have not seen it and we won’t comment on it until we see it.”

I Didn’t Breach Any Law -Tambuwal

Speaker Tambuwal has reached to the withdrawal of his security guards on the directives of the acting inspector-general of police, Suleiman Abba, saying he did not breach any law.

In a statement issued by his special adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, the speaker noted that not only is the IGP’s action a contempt of court, but a deliberate attempt to cause him bodily harm.

In the said statement, the force said that, by his defection from the PDP to the APC, the speaker was in breach of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution and was consequently no longer entitled to police security, a position the party faulted.

“The implication of the inspector general’s statement is that as sanction for this alleged constitutional breach, he has removed Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from office of the speaker House of Representatives,” he said.

“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 Hon Tambuwal,”

SDP Condemns withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday described the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security men as undemocratic and a show of impunity that will not augur well for the country.

A statement by the SDP national secretary, Dr Sadiq Umar Abubakar, and its national publicity secretary, Dr Abdul Isiaq, also cautioned the inspector general of Police, Suleiman Abba, to desist from illegal acts but to be the professional policeman that he was known to be by restoring the security privileges of the speaker.

They noted that the constitution gave Tambuwal, as the number four citizen, the privilege to be protected like the president, the vice president, the Senate president and others.

The statement read in part: “We therefore condemn the act and ask for the restoration of his security and other privileges. This is beyond PDP, Jonathan and APC, and it is the highest disregard to constitution provisions and a show of impunity that will not augur well for democracy.”

The party reminded the IGP that his loyalty was to the state and not to a party, and that toeing the line of partiality was a dangerous trend ahead of the 2014 polls.

The police should be fair and just to all,” the party concluded.

Withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides, double standard – Dabiri-Erewa

The chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has condemned the withdrawal of the security aides of Speaker Tambuwal by the IGP, Suleiman Abba, describing the action as a show of double standard on the part of the police.

In a message issued last night, the lawmaker noted that true democracy encourages freedom of expression and association.

“The act of withdrawing Hon Tambuwal’s security details endangers our democracy and smacks of double standards! He is still the number four citizen. The act is petty, unnecessary and smacks of desperation,” she stated.

HURIWA asks Presidency to restore Tambuwal’s security

A civil society group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to order the immediate restoration of Tambuwal’s security detailss and to sanction administratively the top security officials that gave the order.

In a statement jointly issued by the national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the national media affairs director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said it was the height illegality and impunity for the top hierarchy of the police to strip the nation’s munber four man of his statutory security details “on the nebulous and unqualified grounds that he switched over his political allegiance from one registered political party to another.”

Tambuwal: PPA berates Police

The leadership of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) yesterday joined in the condemnation of the Nigeria Police Force for withdrawing security details attached to Speaker Tambuwal following his defection from the ruling PDP to the APC.

PPA national chairman, Comrade Peter Ameh, who condemned the action in strong terms, warned that rather than drag President Goodluck Jonathan’s name in the mud, the police should rise to its constitutional mandate bytaking pro-active and decisive measures to nip in the bud the brewing crises in the country, so that further threats to the peace and stability in nation will be averted.

He said the police, by their act, not only vindicated his party, but also displayed inconsistency, and wondered why the police failed to invoke the same section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution when governors and other political office holders defected from its party (PPA) to the PDP and other platforms.