APC reps in court to stop house reconvening

November 03

12:32 2014

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All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the house of representatives have gone to court to challenge the plan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers to prematurely reconvene the house, which was adjourned to December 3.

On October 28 after the plenary of the house, Aminu Tambuwal, the speaker of the house of representative, announced his defection from PDP to APC.

“My dear colleagues, in pursuant to the extant provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and having regards to the development in my home state, Sokoto state, I wish to formally notify you of my membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he had said.

Speaking with TheCable on Monday, Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imam Imam, disclosed that on Monday, APC house members took the matter regarding reconvening the house to a federal high court in Abuja.

“One of the reliefs sought by APC lawmakers in court is to stop the attempt of PDP lawmakers to reconvene the house before the adjourned date,” he said

“There are other reliefs, but this is the one I know.”

Corroborating Imam’s statement, Samson Osagie, minority whip of the house told TheCable that the objective of going to court was to stop external forces from causing trouble among lawmakers and also to stop any attempt at impeaching Tambuwal.

“We want stop PDP’s madness. We are law-abiding members of the house. We want to seek judicial interpretation regarding the speakership, and the attempt by some of our PDP colleagues to reconvene the house.

“There is peace in the house; it is external forces that are causing this trouble.”

Osagie added that there was camaraderie among the 360 house members, but that the PDP was using some of them to cause trouble.

Tambuwal is himself in court to challenge police withdrawal of his security aides, which Emmanuel Ojukwu, the acting police spokesman, said was because the speaker flouted the Nigerian constitution.

The State Security Service (SSS) is the latest to withdraw its men, recalling them to the headquarters on Friday.