BY JANICE JOHNSON
As the 2015 elections draw nearer, instances of people defecting from one party to another has been on the rise. However, the most controversial so far is that of the speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal who defected from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on whose platform he was elected to the house in 2011 to the main opposition party, the All Progressives Party (APC).
This sparked furious reactions from the Presidency as well PDP Supporters, even though there had been speculations that the speaker’s actions of recent indicated he was no longer with the PDP and was therefore expected to make the announcement of his defection long before he did. The speaker was said to have lashed out at President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration over alleged inability to check monumental corruption in the system.
According to sources, the speaker had avoided events organised by the PDP, especially since the emergence of the APC and he was alleged to have attended a meeting organised by members of the APC to discuss the political future of Sokoto State, where Tambuwal hails from. At the meeting, the APC said to have zoned its governorship ticket to the Sokoto-South senatorial zone, a move which was believed is to pave the way for the speaker to contest for the state’s governorship seat on the platform of the APC.
The speaker who announced his defection on Tuesday, 28th of October, 2014, said he did that for his own political future and political consideration of Sokoto, his home state. In his own words, he said,
“In pursuit of the provision of the 1999 Constitution and political development in my state, I wish to formally inform you of my membership of APC. “This is in continuation of the great sacrifice and also the need to ensure the development of constitutional democracy.”
After the announcement, he adjourned the sitting of the House till December 3, an action which some Nigerians believe is a smart move to prevent any attempt by the Presidency and PDP lawmakers to remove him from office.
The defection of the Sokoto State-born lawyer speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, has caused ruffling of feathers among members of the House, the Presidency, the PDP and APC.
First, members of the PDP asked Tambuwal to do the honourable thing by stepping down as the speaker of the House of Representatives. Then, the speaker’s security details were withdrawn by the Inspector General of Police, who cited Section 68 (1)(g) of the constitution as his basis for taking such an action. This was condemned by many Nigerians, who argued that, the police do not stand on firm grounds to take the action they took against the Speaker.
On Monday, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ruled that the status quo in the House of Representatives should be maintained, and the embattled Aminu Tambuwal should still remain Speaker of the house. The court also ruled that the house could not reconvene until the date agreed upon, which is December 3. This came after the APC lawmakers in the House of Representatives filed a lawsuit seeking to stop an alleged plan by the ruling PDP to re-convene before the adjourned date of December 3.
The court will however resume hearing on Friday, November 7 and some legal practitioners have expressed hopes that the position of the court will change when it resumes hearing on the case.
In spite of the controversies, the benefitting party, APC has described Tambuwal’s defection as a welcome development and argued that it would give the opposition the opportunity to enthrone checks and balances in governance.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, said that the speaker’s defection to the APC had opened an opportunity for the party to aim for greater heights ahead of the 2015 general election.
He was quoted thus: “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. When the accord Concordia broke down, the then speaker, 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.”
While the drama continues to unfold, let’s hope and pray that it doesn’t jeopardise the peace and unity of the House of Representatives as well as Nigeria as a whole.
POSER: Which party’s argument do you think is correct over this trending issue?
