Tambuwal not Speaker – IGP

The Inspector-General of Po­lice (IGP), Suileman Abba, yesterday declined to recog­nize Hon. Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker, House of Representa­tives. Rather, he insisted that he knows the Speaker as Alhaji Tambuwal.

Speaking when he appeared before the House Committee on Police Affairs , Abba said the matter on whether Hon. Tambuwal is still the Speaker or not is before the court, and as such, he could not comment on it.

The IGP was summoned by the committee over last Thursday’s invasion of the National Assembly, Abuja by the police. Tambuwal and other lawmakers were tear gassed by policemen in the incident which witnessed the scaling of the fence by some House members.

Abba’s appearance yesterday which was marked by some drama started with the police boss expressly refusing to refer Tambuwal as Speaker.

Asked why his men disrespected the the Speaker, he answered, “Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal”?. This was countered by visibly displeased committee members who asked him to address the Speaker properly . He declined the advice.

He went straight to the issue regarding the invasion of the Assembly. He said, “in the process of safeguarding the security of the National Assembly on November 20, we collaborated with the National Assembly’s Sergeant-at-Arms according to laid down procedures, members were being asked to identify themselves before they could be allowed into the premises.

“And at the gate, a tear gas exploded when ‘Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal’ was being asked to identify himself. We still don’t know the circumstances surrounding the explosion and we are investigating it”.

On why the police laid siege at the Assembly, Abba said he acted based on credible information. According to him, the deployment of policemen was meant to prevent what happened on November 19, when Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and other All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters besieged the Force Headquarters, Abuja. He stated that Amaechi and his supporters had vowed to do worse things the following day; including going to the National Assembly.

The IGP insisted that there were reports that those who scaled the fence on that day were thugs who came with some of the lawmakers.

Asked if the so-called thugs included the lawmakers who scaled the fence after being locked out by the police, he replied that actions taken by the force were meant to avert a breakdown of law and order as witnessed recently in Bukina Faso.

The IGP said: “We acted on credible information about suspected thugs who wanted to invade the Assembly, and because we didn’t want what happened in Bukina Faso to repeat itself here, we had to take stringent security measures”.

The committee members brought back the issue of the IGP refusing to recognize Tambuwal as Speaker and ad­dressing him as a mere Alhaji, who has no place in national protocol and significance . Abba maintained his stand, re­fusing to bow to threats by the lawmakers.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Usman Kumo, cau­tioned Abba to act within the laws of the land, maintain­ing that the Speaker and his office must be respected and addressed accordingly.

Another lawmaker, Hon. Hakeem Muniru (APC Lagos), said; “the IGP must retract his statement calling the Speak­er, ‘Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal’ or I take my leave as I would deem this sitting as illegal. I can’t participate in a hearing where the Office of the Speaker through whose authority we are having this meeting is not even recognised by an appointee of the executive”.

Hon. Victor Nwokolo (PDP Delta) said: “I agree with the earlier speaker on the issue at stake which has to do with the IGP retracting his disrespectful statement about the Of­fice of the Speaker”.

Convinced that Abba was not ready to shift ground, the Chairman hit his gavel and told his colleagues that he would report back to the House about what transpired and therefore, adjourned the hearing until further notice.

The Sun