Nigerians divided on Tambuwal’s defection, ordeal By Temidayo Akinsuyi, Agustine Adah (Lagos), Daniel Abia (P/Harcourt), Felix Igbekoyi (Asaba), Oladele Ogunsola (Ibadan), Emmanuel Nzomiwu (Enugu), Yemi Akintomide (Akure), Anolu Vincent (Owerri), Chinwendu Nnadozie (Minna), Chukwujekwu Ilozue (Onitsha), Clement Ekong (Yola) and Tor Vande – Ackar (Benue) Nigerians at the weekend expressed divergent views on the defection of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and the attendant withdrawal of his security aides by the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba. Tambuwal Tambuwal While some said Tambuwal should resign, others felt otherwise querying what happened to members of other parties that defected to PDP; while others viewed it as a matter for the judiciary to decide. Spokesperson of pan-Yoruba socio- political organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, has called on the Speaker to resign to save the House from needless crisis. Odumakin said if the Speaker fails to act honourably and resign the members of the House should reconvene and remove him. He posited that there is no way the ruling PDP which is the majority in the House would allow Tambuwal from the minority to remain as Speaker and would affect the smooth running of the House’s activities. He, however, condemned the action of the police for withdrawing the orderlies of the Speaker, saying that should only be done if the Speaker is removed or resigned as the Number Four citizen of the country. “If Tambuwal is honourable, he should resign. What has happened will create crisis in the House. There is no way the ruling party will allow him to remain as Speaker. And if that happens, there will be crisis upon crisis,” he stated. A chieftain of the PDP, Rivers State chapter, Samuel Anosike, called on members of the House to immediately commence an impeachment process on Tambuwal. Anosike said the Electoral Act was very explicit on what action should be taken when an elected officer defects from his party to another. He said Tambuwal’s action showed that people do not have respect for the party they belong to any longer, saying that the Speaker was not a gentleman because he ought to have respected the party that brought him to that position in the first place. “He should be impeached. That is what the Electoral Law says. He won an election on the platform of the PDP. Now that he has defected, he should be removed as the Speaker of the House. Tambuwal has breached the Electoral Act and he must face the music,” he stated. Senator Magnus Abe representing the Rivers South East Senatorial District in the Senate alleged that PDP was plotting to remove Tambuwal through the back door, saying that this can only be possible if PDP can garner 240 votes to impeach him. “The PDP is working very hard to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Amniu Tambuwal, through the backdoor. But let me tell you today, that nobody can remove him. “The only way they can remove him is if they can garner 240 votes on the floor of the House to remove him. The PDP cannot get that number of representatives in the House to remove him,” he asserted. However, the Chairman, Delta State Labour Party, Tony Ezeagwu, posited that the ordeal Tambuwal was passing through was uncalled for and unwise. Ezeagwu advised that as the Number Four citizen of Nigeria, the Presidency or PDP should have looked for a constitutional means of removing him when the House resumes, if actually he does not have a majority control of the House but not exposing him to risks. He said the Presidency and the Inspector General of Police should think twice and if there is anything to be done at all, it has to be done constitutionally, and not the IG using his power to rubbish the Constitution of Nigeria. He lamented that we do things without considering the implication and at the end it backfires. “If President Goodluck Jonathan defects to another party today, would he withdraw his security aides? And why should the case of Tambuwal be special?” he queried. He said many have defected and were not treated like that. He said PDP should have known that Tambuwal’s spirit was not in PDP going by the way he emerged as Speaker. He said the position was zoned to the South West but emerged through the powers that be. “Then if PDP could look overlook that, they should also overlook this one,” he stated. However, the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, said it was the business of the judiciary and not that of any order organ of government to interpret laws and legal implication of political actions. Ahmed speaking during the swearing-in of members of the reconstituted Kwara State Judicial Service Commission, said: “It is the business of the judiciary and not that of any other arm or organ of government to interpret laws of the land and the legal implication of political action such as defection at the National Assembly and indeed the Executive”. Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Project Evaluation and Monitoring, Prof. Sylvester Monye, noted there is a rule governing any organisation. He maintained that the Constitution makes clear certain criteria one must meet to occupy a particular position. “If the rule says you cannot be Speaker of the House of Representatives when the party you belong to is in the minority, then the rule of the game and democracy that the minority must have its say while the majority must have its way must apply,” he stated. An activist/lawyer, Femi Aborisade, and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Saka Ibrahim Ominiwe, condemned the withdrawal of security aides attached to the Speaker in strong terms. Aborisade said the withdrawal of the security aides on grounds of political defection was highly condemnable as it showed an unacceptable level of intolerance. We warned unless and until the House removes him, the Speaker is entitled to his security details as any other official of his status. “In the final analysis, all public officials must appreciate that they can only be truly secure only if the larger society is secure,” the lawyer stated. In his own reaction, Ominiwe warned that the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker might worsen the political situation in the country. The APC chieftain said it was high handedness, ill-timed, unconstitutional saying the decision must be reversed immediately in order not to worsen the tense political situation in the country. “I’m of the view that the IGP must have acted wrongly and he needs to reverse his order,” he stated. “This is a democratic setting in which the rule of law must prevail and obeyed at all cost for us to have a smooth running of government. The IGP must have been advised wrongly which has to be corrected immediately for peace to reign,” he said. Ominiwe advised politicians and leaders to be patriotic and eschew politics without bitterness, adding that they should fear God in all their dealings for the country to develop. South-East Zonal Director of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Olu Omotayo, warned PDP against adopting jungle justice to remove the Speaker. Omotayo who is a lawyer warned that removing Tambuwal through an unconstitutional means could cause a mass revolt in the country. He flayed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, for withdrawing the security details of Tambuwal even when he has not been removed from office. Describing the action of the IGP as reckless and unprofessional, the South-East CLO boss said it was wrong for Abba to withdraw Tambuwal’s security when he has not been impeached. “Section 50(1)(c), 1999 constitution as amended stated that the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker can only be removed by a resolution of the Senate or House as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members,” Omotayo said. Omotayo said PDP should first of all get the support of two-thirds of the members of House of Representatives before taking further steps against the Speaker. The Chairman of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Comrade Debo Adeniran, said PDP should continue to lick its wounds over the defection of Tambuwal to APC. ”Let them continue to lick their wounds because there is nothing they can do on the matter,” he said. Adeniran described as unconstitutional the withdrawal of security personnel attached to the Speaker and advised the Inspector General of Police to restore his security details without delay if he was not acting a script. Adeniran advised PDP to accept the defection of Hon. Tambuwal as a normal thing because when the Governor of Ondo State, Segun Mimiko, moved from Labour Party to PDP, his security details were not withdrawn. He said it was wrong and unconstitutional for the ruling party to assume that it has the sole right to produce the speakership position. He further stated that both PDP and APC should wait on the court to decide over the matter and advised the court to fast track the hearing of the matter so that it would not be unnecessarily delayed. A rights’ activist and convener of Conference of Nigerian Civil Right Activists (CNCRA), Ifeanyi Odili, said the PDP cannot pass any fiat sanction on Tambuwal as he is no longer a member of the ruling party. He said: “The only body or group of people saddled with such responsibility are members of House of Representatives. It is evidently clear that PDP has been torn and balkanised into fragments and there are court pronouncements on that.” SOURCE: Daily Independent
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:35:46 +0000
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