BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The national assembly complex in Abuja has been teargassed by the police as Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, tried to reconvene the lower chamber.
He had earlier been denied entry into the complex, but he was smuggled inside by other members of the hose.
Before his arrival, officers of the Department of State Services (DSS) had taken over the assembly, putting visitors through thorough scrutiny ahead of the reconvention of the federal house of representatives.
The house is reconvening to deliberate on the request of the president for an extension of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.
When Tambuwal arrived the assembly complex few minutes before 11am, policemen attempted to prevent his entry, firing canisters of tear gas into the air and at the speaker, as lawmakers attempted to smuggle him into the national assembly.
It was a war-like situation, with house members marching behind the speaker after he was stopped from entering the gate.
Lawmakers began chanting “No police! No police! No police!” while everyone, including Tambuwal, scuttled for fresh air in the tear-gassed assembly complex.
Many of the lawmakers, including Kawu Sumaila, deputy minority leader of the house (pictured above) had to scale the assembly gate to gain access to the building.
Tambuwal has been at loggerheads with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since October 28 when he announced his defection from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) shortly after securing adjournment of the house to December.
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