More reactions have continued to trail the withdrawal of the Speaker of House Of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwals security details by the acting Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba. The speaker, Tambuwal said he did not breach any law to warrant such action by the IGP. 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. Reacting to the issue, The All Progressive Congress, APC, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to show better understanding of democracy by immediately restoring the security details of the speaker. In a statement issued in Abuja by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC described the withdrawal of the speaker’s security details as 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. The APC, therefore, enjoined President Jonathan to respect and comply with the law. In its own reaction, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) 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 partys national secretary, Dr Sadiq Umar Abubakar, and its national publicity secretary, Dr Abdul Isiaq, cautioned the Ag. IGP 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 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 2015 polls. Also, the leadership of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) has joined in the condemnation of the act by 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 by taking pro-active and decisive measures to nip in the bud the brewing crises in the country, so that further threats to peace and stability 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. Similarly, a civil society group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), asked President Jonathan to order the immediate restoration of Tambuwal’s security details 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 of illegality and impunity for the top hierarchy of the police to strip the nation’s number 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.” In her own reaction, the chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, condemned the withdrawal of the security aides of the Speaker, describing the action as a show of double standard on the part of the police. She noted that true democracy encourages freedom of expression and association. In the meantime, The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said it was not aware that the security detail of Speaker Tambuwal was withdrawn. 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.” @PDefinest.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:02:19 +0000
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