Call it a siege, lock-out or police action, the National Assembly was taken over by armed security agents last Thursday, ostensibly to prevent the House of Representatives from reconvening EDEGBE ODEMWINGIE gives an eye-witness account of the drama that took place at the NASS Complex
The sign of things to come was evident Thursday morning. By 7.am, a combined team of fully armed mobile policemen, riot police and hooded, gun-totting operatives of the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) had enforced a blockade at the National Assembly.
The blockade was aimed at fencing out the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
The violent scenes (some comical) that played out that day has since gone viral on the social media and the traditional press – local and international.
At exactly 10:50am, security operatives led by the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Wilson Inalegwu blocked Tambuwal’s convoy from gaining access into the National Assembly premises.
A statement issued later by the Force Public Relations Officer, Ag. CP Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the Police was acting on an “intelligence report” of a likely invasion of the House of Representatives by hoodlums and thugs.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY reports that the House Speaker was only accompanied by fellow legislators and his aides.
Curiously, at 10:21AM, the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha with his full official protocol and convoy was allowed access into the National Assembly unhindered.
At a point, Tambuwal came down from his official car, formally introduced himself to security operatives manning the locked gates and demanded to see the commanding officer.
“Gentlemen, my names are Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and I am the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I am here as our constitution demands to go in and preside over the sitting of the House. Officers, I would like to know who the commanding officer is here.
“Can you identify me as the Speaker of this House”, he asked. The police officers at the gate remained mute as the Speaker made enquiries.
With no response, Tambuwal stepped back about five yards and stood in the sun surrounded by fellow lawmakers and aides.
After a thirty minutes wait, the Speaker was tipped that a small gate was half opened. He subsequently marched swiftly alongside a few lawmakers and muscled his way in before the police could realize.
Tambuwal was forced to walk into the chambers on foot.
The Police quickly moved to close the entrance. Other lawmakers and political associates stranded outside were forced to scale the tall metal gate. Comical video recordings showing the well-fed lawmakers climbing the gates have thrilled many.
The lawmakers (mostly APC) were: the Minority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), his Deputy, Suleiman Abdrahman Kawu (Kano), Bimbo Daramola (Ekiti), Samuel Adejare (Lagos) and a host of others.
The drama took a dangerous turn as Tambuwal and other lawmakers approached the National Assembly lobby, popularly call ‘White House’. It connects both Chambers of the National Assembly – House and Senate.
The police on sighting the Speaker and his entourage, fired three tear gas canisters at them. The security operatives also went into the lobby and fired more tear gas canisters into the lobby.
Amidst the commotion caused by the teargas, Tambuwal’s aides rushed in and provided him with a handkerchief to cover his nostrils.
Unfortunately, two of his aides fainted on the impact of tear gas. Others scampered off to safety as the Speaker was guided into the chamber.
In the chamber, attempts by the Senate President, David Mark who came in to intervene was met with hostility from House members.
Hon. Aliyu Gebi (Bauchi/APC) made a move for the Senate President but was quickly restrained. Another lawmaker, Abdulmalik Cheche (Niger/APC) grabbed the Senate President by the shoulder and shook him vigorously. Other lawmakers booed him and rained invectives, forcing the Senate President to leave the House Chamber.
Afterwards, the House went into an executive session (close-door) where lawmakers blocked consideration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s request to extend emergency rule in the three north east states.
Tambuwal insisted that the request could not be considered in view of the fact that the National Assembly was ‘under siege’.
The Senate President thereafter ordered the shutting down of the National Assembly till Tuesday, next week.
Fight back
APC House members are taking the fight back to the President. They have began gathering signatures to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan. The lawmakers listed “Gross misconduct” and “several constitutional breaches” as grounds they were relying on to remove the President.
Also, the inability of the president to contain the Boko Haram-led insurgency was disclosed as another ground they were relying on to impeach Jonathan.
It was disclosed to LEADERSHIP that House members who have signed Jonathan’s impeachment notice number “above 120” as at Thursday.
According to one of the lawmakers who disclosed the move, the impeachment process was supposed to commence at Thursday’s plenary but for the intervention of Tambuwal who prevented them from making the move.
Briefing newsmen On Thursday, House Spokesman, Hon Zakari Mohammed stated: “There is nothing like that officially, but we are not fore-closing other things”.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor (Delta/PDP) said any move to move against the president is “totally inconsequential”.
Ogor said the president should be isolated from the affairs turmoil that engulfed the House on Thursday.
“If for any reason anybody wants to talk about impeachment, that person should come out and address the issue. But I can tell you categorically that an attempt to raise the issue of impeachment in respect of the House, it’s going be a very difficult one because the President has not committed any offence against anybody in that house neither has he violated any constitutional provision.
“The issue of impeachment is inconsequential because he who is alleging must be ready to prove. You can’t just come and said you want to impeach without having anything to prove against the President.” Ogor said.
Reps Defy NASS Shutdown
The drama continued on Friday as the House defied the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator David Mark, on his Thursday closure of the two chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
In defiance to Mark’s order, the House Committee on Police Affairs met with representatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) over Thursday’s violence that engulfed the National Assembly.
Mark announced the closure of the Assembly after security operatives fired tear gas canisters at the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and other legislators.
“Due to the unfortunate incident which took place this morning (Thursday), I have shut down the National Assembly till Tuesday next week; both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It’s unfortunate. We will invite the Inspector General of Police here next Tuesday also.” Mark announced Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, on Friday snubbed a House of Representative summon, a day after heavily Armed Police enforced a blockade at the National Assembly aimed at fencing out the House Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
Abba in reply to the House summon, stated that “due to exigency of duty”, he would not be able to appear before the House.
In the letter referenced (CB:3380/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL 8/806) to the Chairman House Committee on Police Affairs, Hon. Usman Bello Kumo, the IGP directed the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations to represent him.
The letter reads in parts: “your letter No. NASS/7HR/CT.71/VOLIII/221 dated 2oth November, 2014 on the above subject matter refers. Due to exigency of duty, the Inspector General of Police will not be able to appear before the House. Meanwhile, he has directed the Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations to represent him”. The letter was signed by the Principal Staff Officer, CP Austin Iwar.
The House Committee however rejected the IGP’s representative, insisting the he (IGP) appears in person.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Usman Bello Kumo in his reaction stated: “This Committee invited the IGP to come before it to explain the unfortunate incident that happened yesterday (Thursday). The IGP failed to appear but sent his DIG operations as well as a letter explaining his inability to appear before the Committee.”
“The constitution empowers the House through its Committees to summon anybody to appear before it. It is in view of this that the Committee is fixing this hearing for November 26 for the IGP to appear at this interactive session in person. The meeting is hereby adjourned.”
Throwback
Tambuwal on October 28 officially defected to the APC. According to the Speaker, the defection was in line the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and followed developments in PDP in his home state, Sokoto.
Tambuwal announced his defection at the end of Tuesday’s plenary. He immediately adjourned plenary to December 3, a move monitors suggested was to thwart any likely move by the PDP dominated House to unseat him.
The national leadership of the PDP on Tuesday reacted to the defection of Tambuwal stating that he should do the needful since he has joined the minority party in the lower chamber.
Tambuwal’s defection to the APC puts the opposition in the leadership of the House over a PDP dominated House (in term of numbers), a first since 1999. PDP lawmakers have a majority with 189 members to APC’s 159. The remaining 12 lawmakers are from other smaller parties.
Before October 28 defection to the APC, his body language gave him away, his opposition party alliance made complex his political riddle, and his statements and other actions were tagged “anti-party” by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
House Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, as a result of past “sins” in the PDP, was grouped in the party’s “rebel” category. He went against the president and PDP’s choice for the headship of the House. Riding on a bloc opposition vote, Tambuwal snubbed a PDP arrangement which favoured Mrs. Mulikat Adeola-Akande to emerge as speaker of the House.
Tambuwal has been a major contributor to the bashing his PDP ilk and President Goodluck Jonathan has received from several high-level quarters. Recently, Tambuwal spoke of Jonathan’s “body language” as encouraging corruption, drawing applause from the APC while the president and the PDP got loathed.
The president was reacting to the House of Representatives’ probe of “missing” oil revenues and the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, over allegations of spending N10billion on hiring private jets.
Recently, while responding to PDP’s pleas to stop its party lawmakers from defecting to APC, Tambuwal insisted that he would not stop any lawmaker who wants to defect from doing so. The case at the upper chamber was different as the leadership there has been loyal in a ruthless fashion to the PDP’s cause, even dropping subtle threats to declare defecting lawmakers seat vacant.
In June this year, the political friction between the two parties attained an ugly dimension when security operatives stopped Tambuwal’s motorcade and searched his official car. Expectedly, accusing fingers were pointed in the direction of the presidency.
The speaker had no plans to be beaten in the game. He played the victim card effectively. In the aftermath, he attracted a bulk of the public sympathy. The presidency went home with public scorn.
The widely reported incident occurred at the entrance to Hotel 17 in Kaduna, venue of an international conference on security organised by the office of the national security adviser.
Tambuwal cleared that he was not averse to being subjected to scrutiny or screening by “constituted authorities”, but expected to enjoy some protocol and privilege by virtue of his position as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria.
“I want to state that I am not above the law. As recently as last week Wednesday when I was travelling to Paris, I subjected myself to screening by staff of Air France here at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport”, he explained.
Going further, he added, “My luggage was requested to be searched and I obliged them; I gave them my luggage. My physical person was frisked and I allowed that to happen without any resistance. That is to show everyone that I am not averse to being subjected to scrutiny or screening by constituted authorities.
“The difference between that and what happened in Kaduna is the fact that I expected to enjoy some protocol and privilege as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, moreso, from the authorities established by law.
“No one out there should have any impression that any of us here in the House of Representatives or in the National Assembly is above the law; that is not the message we are sending.”
Threat To Life
“As the number four citizen in the hierarchy of protocol in the country, the Speaker is entitled to security protection by the security agencies, therefore we see the action of the Acting Inspector General of Police as not only contempt of the courts but a ploy to bring harm to the person of Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.”
Tambuwal was reacting to the controversial withdrawal of his security details by the IGP, Sulaiman Abba reportedly on the orders of the presidency. APC lawmakers described the action of as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘incredulous’.
In a statement issued by Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media, Malam Imam Imam, he said he received with shock and amazement the statement issued by the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters justifying the withdrawal of Police Security Personnel attached to the Hon Speaker, by the Acting Inspector General of Police.
Tambuwal: “In the said statement, the Force has stated to the effect that by his defection from the PDP to the APC, the Hon Speaker is in breach of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution and is consequently no longer entitled to police security. Nothing can be further from the truth.
“The implication of the Inspector General of Police’s statement is that as sanction for this alleged constitutional breach, he has removed Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from office of Speaker House of Representatives.
Tambuwal submitted that the question of whether or not there is a division or faction in the PDP has been resolved by Lord Justice Faji of the Ilorin Division of Federal High Court in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/605/2013 in which the court held that indeed there were factions in the PDP.
He added that in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/ 605/2013, the Sokoto Division of the Federal High Court per Justice Aikawa, the judgment of the court was that there was not only Division but faction in the PDP which later merged with the APC.
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