DOUBLE LEAD: INSIDE YELLOW BOX • House adjourns till Dec 3, awaits court’s verdict on cross-carpeting • Gbajabiamila, Ogor: He remains speaker Chuks Okocha, Muhammad Bello and Onyebuchi Ezigbo Following the defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC), yesterday, the ruling party has demanded that the speaker does the honourable thing by resigning his leadership post in the lower chamber of the National Assembly. But in a swift riposte, the APC hailed his decision to cross carpet, insisting that Tambuwal remained the speaker. The opposition party stressed that both the constitution and a political precedent supported Tambuwal’s continued leadership in the House. Ending months of speculation, Tambuwal finally defected to the APC on the floor of the House yesterday, shortly after which the House adjourned sitting till December 3 to forestall any attempts by the federal government and PDP to remove him from office. Although the rumours of Tambuwal’s defection had made the rounds in recent weeks, his eventual defection hit the ruling PDP in the gut yesterday, forcing its National Working Committee (NWC) to call an emergency meeting to review the development. PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh, asked Tambuwal to do the needful, as the PDP holds the majority in the House of Representatives. The party said: “After a thorough consideration of the matter, the NWC came to the conclusion that the Honourable Speaker, as a responsible elected officer, knows full well what is needful and honourable of him since his new party is in the minority. “We are not unmindful of the fact that Hon. Tambuwal became speaker on the platform of the PDP as the political party with the majority of seats in the House of Representatives and that this incontrovertible fact has not changed.” Also, joining the call for his resignation, the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, asked Tambuwal to resign as the honourable man that he is. “He should do the needful, as there is no crisis in the PDP. Right from time, Tambuwal has only been a member of PDP only by mouth. He has been associating with the opposition. “The PDP is in the majority in the House and the constitution says that the speaker of the House of Representatives should come from the majority party. There is no crisis in PDP as a political party,” Akpabio stressed. However, the opposition party, the major beneficiary of his defection, expectedly rose to Tambuwal’s defence as it welcomed the development, arguing that it would give the opposition the opportunity to enthrone checks and balances in governance. Speaking to THISDAY in Abuja, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the speakers defection to the APC had opened an opportunity for the party to aim for greater heights ahead of the 2015 general election. “I must say that this historic development means that our democracy is growing by the day and it is dynamic. On a more serious note, we welcome the defection of Tambuwal to APC. With this defection, APC has now taken the leadership of one arm of the national legislature. “We think that having the head of the legislature from the opposition party makes for a balanced setting in government and it’s good for democracy,” he said. He admonished all those who were expecting Tambuwal to quit his position as speaker to go down history lane to understand the workings of the legislature. The APC spokesman recalled that in 1983, the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) did not have the majority in the National Assembly and so entered into an accord with the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), and the ruling party at the time shared the leadership of both arms of the National Assembly. “When the accord concordia broke down, the then Speaker, Chief Edwin Umezoke, did not relinquish his position. Those who are saying this has not happened before and that Tambuwal should step aside as speaker, do not have the backing of history and the constitution,” he said. In the same vein, the APC caucus in the House, led by the Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, stated: “We welcome and applaud the speaker’s decision. Ever since this crisis started in PDP, which led to the formation of New PDP and the defection of the five PDP governors and 37 PDP members of the House of Representatives to the APC and formal merger of the New PDP with the APC, we had all along known and hoped that this day will come. “We are proud to acknowledge that the speaker remains not only a member of the House of Representatives but also its speaker. This position is consistent with the law and practice in a presidential system of government and Nigeria is no different. For the avoidance of doubt, the constitution requires only that the speaker or deputy speaker of the House of Representatives shall be elected by members of that House from among themselves. “Right Honourable Waziri Tambuwal has been a speaker for all the members of the House and all the political parties and for all Nigerians. I’m sure keen observers of activities on the floor and people who follow the House of Representatives would bear witness to the fact that Honourable Tambuwal has been a bridge-builder, he has cut across party lines and he has always put national interest in the fore front of all his decisions and his activities on the floor of the House. “I believe and we trust that even with this switch to the All Progressives Congress, he would continue to do that and keep faith with that principle. “As a caucus, we pledge our continued support to the current leadership of the House of Representatives. We will not do anything to destabilise the institution of the House of Representatives so that it would continue to deliver on the mandate given to its members by Nigerians. “More than ever before, there is need for vigilance and focus on the concerns of Nigerian people, who elected all of us.” Many, however, believed that the long adjournment till December 3 was a deft move by Tambuwal aimed at letting all the dust arising from his defection to settle before resumption of plenary. Giving reasons for his defection, the speaker said he left the PDP due to political consideration for his state, Sokoto, and his political forage in the future. According to him, the decision to leave the PDP and join the APC was based on the constitution and political developments in Sokoto, where its governor, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, had also left the PDP for APC. Tambuwal said: “Based on our extant laws and the provisions of our Constitution, and having regard for the political developments in my state, I hereby announce my membership of the All Progressives Congress.” He thanked his colleagues who had stood by him in days gone by as a member of the PDP and also speaker of the House and urged all of them to remain steadfast in the days ahead as they “work together to further the common good of our dear nation”. However, Deputy Majority Leader in the House, Hon. Leo Ogor, yesterday dismissed the misconception that the adjournment of the House till December 3 was done to forestall Tambuwal’s removal. “That has nothing to do with his defection. He stated clearly that the essence is to go for the oversight functions and for the House to adequately prepare for the presentation of the budget. “You are also mindful of the fact that there are primaries before us. It behoves all of us to do the needful to make sure that those who want to come back, should have the opportunity to work towards that,” he said. Ogor added that the House as an institution would await the verdict of the judiciary on the legality or otherwise of a legislator defecting from one party to another. Ogor however insisted that the PDP was still in control of the House and would keep a keen watch on Tambuwal’s antics as the presiding officer. “First, I think, like I always emphasise, what happened today was quite unexpected. But again, that decision was a personal decision and has no major implication on our political party. “The PDP members of the House will look at the situation and take a position in respect of the defection,” he said. The lawmaker re-echoed the unresolved legal argument of whether those who defect from their parties can retain their seats in the legislature. “He is gone, fine. And he emphasised that his decision borders on his local politics. That borders on the interest of his people and his constituency. But all said and done, he came through a political party which was PDP, so by the provision of Section (68)(g) of the constitution, which is still before a court of jurisdiction, we await the ruling of the court on the matter,” he said. Ogor added that the opportunity had been presented for the judiciary to rule on the matter quickly, saying: “Justice delayed is justice denied. “That this subject matter before them, behoves them to make the necessary interpretations so that we can lay this issue to rest in respect of defection. It is extremely important. But for us as members of the PDP, we believe that we will continue carrying on the responsibilities of our party.” On the purported removal of the speaker, he explained: “I think we need to be mindful of the constitution. According to the constitution, you would need two-thirds majority to remove a sitting speaker. Do we (PDP) have two-thirds? That is another matter we need to ponder over. “We will face the party and give our explanations, but I can assure you that the party’s interest will be fully protected. “Let me emphasise here that the speaker has left. But because he has gone does not mean that the PDP does not control the House. He sits down there as the presiding officer, we run the affairs of the House and as people who control the House. So we m
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 15:11:24 +0000
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