TheCable

The face-off between Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, and security agencies over his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is finally over.

TheCable can report that following in the footsteps of the Department of State Services (DSS), the police have also restored Tambuwal’s security aides.

Tambuwal, who is the APC governorship candidate in Sokoto state and is currently campaigning, will return to Abuja to find his detachment of police officers waiting for him.

The order for their return, TheCable learnt, was given by Abba Suleiman, the inspector general, who had vehemently refused to recognise Tambuwal as speaker after his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in October 2014.

The police withdrew their men on October 30, arguing that Tambuwal had, by his defection, lost his position as speaker based on the provisions of the 1999 constitution.

Initially, the DSS retained its operatives but followed suit four days later without giving any official explanation.

Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were the only ones providing security for the speaker.

But President Goodluck Jonathan has since seemed to recognise Tambuwal as speaker after inviting him to the national council of state meeting early February and sending Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the finance minister, to hold discussions with him on the 2015 budget.

More to follow…