NLC knocks IG for withdrawing Tambuwal’s security aides

                                  
                                         Acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba


he Nigeria Labour Congress has described the withdrawal of the security details attached to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, over his defection to the All Progressives Congress, as shameful.

The General- Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, also described the decision as unconstitutional in an electronic mail to our correspondent on Sunday.

The NLC leadership warned that nothing should happen to the Speaker over the withdrawal of the police details attached to his office as a result of political developments.

Ozo-Eson said that it was not stated in the constitution that the Speaker must be elected from the majority party in the House of Representatives.

He cited the example of Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke of the defunct Nigeria’s Peoples Party who was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic, when the disbanded National Party of Nigeria was the ruling party and the Unity Party of Nigeria was the main opposition in the country.

The NLC scribe also wondered why the security details of the governors of Borno and Ondo states, Ali Modu Sherriff and Olusegun Mimiko, respectively, were not withdrawn when they defected to the PDP.

“We, at the Nigeria Labour Congress, are appalled by the withdrawal of security details of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, ostensibly because he had defected to the All Progressives Congress.

“The act is shameful, distasteful, unconstitutional, and demonstrates our parochial sense of power and very little knowledge of history. No part of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says the Speaker of the House of Representatives should come from the majority party. Section 50(1)(b) only says, “There shall be …a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves…

“In the Second Republic, the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, was elected from the ranks of the Nigeria Peoples Party, not just an opposition party but the third after the UPN and the NPN. We have other precedents across the world.

“We find it appropriate to cite the examples of Mimiko and Ali Modu-Sheriff, governor of Ondo State and former governor of Borno states respectively. Their security details were not withdrawn when they defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.

“We would like to be on record that we will not fold our hands while little minds threaten our hard-earned democracy. Nothing should happen to Tambuwal.”

The NLC demanded immediate restoration of the security details of Tambuwal, stressing that the issue was beyond the person of the Speaker but his office.

Ozo-Eson, who criticised the police and the security agencies involved in the saga, said that the action of the security agencies only brought to the fore the demand of the congress for strong institutions in the society.

“The police and other security agencies involved in this disgusting conduct should hold their heads in shame. Herein lies the essence of strong institutions, which we have always advocated.

“For those who take pleasure in converting to personal use, public/state institutions, they should remember that today’s men will soon become yesterday’s men. What goes around, comes around.”




Source: Saharareport