■ I’m ready for arrest –Tambuwal
■ Jonathan’s impeachment move, diversionary – PDP caucus
Last Thursday’s altercation at the National Assembly which pitched the Nige¬ria Police against members of the House of Representa¬tives, and purportedly spinned – off into moves by security forces to arrest the speaker of the House of Representa¬tives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, may have sparked off verbal fire among the various forces involved. The speaker’s party, the All Progressives Congress, (APC), the National Security Adviser, (NSA), the Nigeria Po¬lice Force, NPF, the Speaker, and the PDP caucus have all risen in defence or against the purported arrest plot.
While the APC dared the Federal Government to go ahead with the plot to arrest the speaker and reap the whirlwind, the NSA said the plan to arrest Tambuwal only existed in the imagination of the architects of the reports. This is even as Tambuwal, the man in the eye of the storm declared that he was ready for the arrest. Joining the fray, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, caucus in the House of Representatives insisted that talks about plans to commence impeachment moves against President Goodluck Jon¬athan as fallout of the crises were diversionary and unworkable.
The APC warned that the re¬ported plan to arrest Tambuwal could trigger a crisis that would be “fatal for the nation’s democ¬racy, hence there is the need to jettison the plan out of abun¬dance of caution.”
In a statement issued in Ijebu- Ode, Ogun State, on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the par¬ty said the Federal Government would be pouring petrol on a na¬ked fire by arresting the speaker, following the failed attempt to prevent him from accessing the National Assembly to preside over the affairs of the House of Representatives last Thursday, and also in an apparent attempt to halt the current move to im¬peach the president.
“Published reports have cor¬roborated what we know: That the plan on Thursday was to prevent Tambuwal from enter¬ing the National Assembly to pave the way for his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha, who had al¬ready been allowed into the House, to preside over the re¬moval of the speaker. Were it not so, why would the police even try to seize the mace from the Sergeant-at-arms, as reported? Why would the police detain the Sergeant-at-arms for his refusal? What is the business of the po¬lice with the mace, which is the House’s symbol of authority?
“But for the quick thinking and action of the Honorable members who scaled the gate to access the Assembly, that plan would have succeeded and Tambuwal would have been removed as speaker, the conse¬quences of which no one would have been able to foretell.
“Therefore, instead of pillory¬ing those who scaled the gate, we should be commending them for risking their lives to save our democracy. Those who shut the gate against the lawmakers and barred them from carrying out their constitutional duties are the villains, not the honorable mem¬bers who acted in the nation’s interest,’’ it said.
APC said the ceaseless hounding of Tambuwal by the President and the PDP is patent¬ly provocative, to say the least, and calls into question the stated commitment of the Jonathan Administration to the rule of law.
“In the eyes of the law, Rt. Hon. Tambuwal remains the Speaker of the House of Repre¬sentatives, despite his defection from the PDP to the APC. No matter what the PDP and the Presidency may feel, they are not the court of law, which is the only body that can make a defi¬nite pronouncement on the fate of the Speaker.
“The Speaker also remains the number two man in the hi¬erarchy of the legislative arm of government, which is distinct from the executive arm headed by the President. It is therefore not only unconstitutional, but also anti-democratic and anar¬chic for the PDP-led govern¬ment of President Goodluck Jonathan to continue to hound the Speaker and desecrate the hallowed chambers of the Na¬tional Assembly, using the police force that has now become the enforcement arm of the ruling party, having dropped all pre¬tences to neutrality and profes¬sionalism,’’ APC said.
The party said at a time the political atmosphere has become so charged by the government-backed police assault on the Na¬tional Assembly, it is a perilous game to seek to arrest the Speak¬er, for whatever reason, unless of course, the administration is bent on deliberately plunging the na¬tion into crisis.
“It is difficult to fathom the reason behind the government’s increasing resort to recklessness, but it may not be unconnected with the rising desperation by the ruling PDP to hold on to power at all cost. Perhaps now that it has started seeing the handwrit¬ing on the wall with Nigerians clamouring for change, this gov¬ernment may be tilting towards its last option of throwing the nation into crisis to prevent the 2015 elections from holding.
‘’We are therefore calling on all men and women of good con¬science, especially those who have the ears of the president, to prevail on him not to push the nation into any worse crisis than it is currently encountering. With terrorists daily killing and maim¬ing Nigerians, forcing more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes and threatening the nation’s territorial integrity, the government’s trifling is baffling, and should stop forthwith,’’ it said.
However, the Office of Na¬tional Security Adviser (ONSA) described as unfair and a total falsehood the news report in some media that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki has ordered the arrest of Tambuwal at a meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo and Inspector General of Police Suleman Abba.
The Director, Special Duties, in the Office of National Securi¬ty Adviser, retired Colonel Bello Fadile described the reports and rumours as untrue and total falsehood.
Colonel Fadile said: “It is not only untrue and mere fabricated reports that the NSA met with the VP and ordered the arrest of Hon Tambuwal. The fact is that the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki has been outside the country since Wednesday on pressing national security issues.
“To the best of our knowl¬edge, there is no order for the arrest of Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of the House of Rep¬resentatives.
“We therefore urge the media to always cross-check their sto¬ries before going to the press.”
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu has also denied the report. He neverthe¬less added that: “It lies with the investigators to determine who should be quizzed and/or pros¬ecuted, as the case may be for criminal acts.”
But notwithstanding the fire-spitting and the denials, the speaker said he is “available, ready and willing to answer any lawful invitation from any of the security agencies on any mat¬ter for which they may require his attention.” In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Alhaji Imam Imam, it said that the “speaker is a law abiding citizen who has no immunity against arrest and prosecution, except privileges by the legislative powers and privileges act.” The Speaker expressed dismay at the unpro¬fessional conduct of the Nige¬ria police in the attempt to stop him from accessing the House of Representatives chambers on the 20th of November, 2014 to preside over the special ses¬sion of the House on the state of emergency extension requested by the president for which he had recalled members from their working recess.
“Most disgraceful is the false statement later issued by the po¬lice on the issue claiming that Tambuwal arrived the venue with a motley crowd, who broke the cordon, assaulted the police and evaded due process. This blatant falsehood coming from a law enforcement agency that is expected to be neutral and lawful is unfortunate to say the least” the statement added. It reminded the police that as a public insti¬tution that provides common services to all the arms of gov¬ernment, they must not allow themselves to be used by one of the arms to undermine the oth¬ers. Explaining further, the state¬ment said, “He came to the Na¬tional Assembly accompanied by honourable members as is customary during any sitting of the House. They all came with their official vehicles, but were disallowed from driving into the premises. They cannot be referred to as a “motley crowd”.
In a deft maneuver calcu¬lated to stifle the reported moves by about 113 members of the House to commence impeach¬ment moves against the presi¬dent, members of the PDP cau¬cus in the House met last Friday and described it as diversion¬ary, a scam and laughable. The caucus wondered where those behind the move sourced their strength from, and how it would be successfully implemented. Sunday Sun learnt that the cau¬cus evaluated the events of the last few days in the House and condemned the violence, saying it “will no longer be intimidated or blackmailed by any group or individuals in the House.”
Source: Sun
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