TheCable

The speaker of the federal house of representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was on Monday morning “detained” by soldiers in Kaduna, his office has alleged.

The incident, it said, occurred at Hotel 17, venue of an international conference on security and development challenges of pastoralism in west and central Africa.

The conference was organised by the office of the national security adviser.

Tambuwal was said to have been stopped by soldiers who insisted on searching his car, even though they knew he is the speaker.

Other guests were not subjected to the same process, one of Tambuwal’s aides told TheCable.

“The speaker was angered by the conduct of the soldiers. He decided to come out of the car and trekked to the venue,” the aide said.

Tambuwal reportedly arrived the event venue at 9.16am for the opening ceremony slated for 10am.

His convoy was stopped and prevented from moving further by the soldiers “despite entreaties by security details attached to the speaker”, the aide said.

The soldiers reportedly said they were acting on “orders from above” to search the speaker.

“Incidentally, other VIPs, especially governors, who attended the conference were allowed access into the hotel without hindrance,” the aide said.

Tambuwal’s spokesman, Malam Imam Imam, when contacted by TheCable, decried the conduct of the soldiers, saying their attitude undermines the institution of the legislature.

“It is not about the person of the speaker, but the office he is occupying. What we expect is for the security agents to show respect for the office of the Number 4 citizen of the country, ” he said.

The Kaduna State commissioner of police was said to have subsequently apologised to Tambuwal for the “mix-up”, saying the speaker ought not to have been searched.

However, defence spokesman, Majoe Gen. Chris Olukolade, denied that Tambuwal was “detained”.

He said that as at the time of responding to TheCable’s enquiries, the speaker had, in fact, already finished delivering his address at the conference.

In protocol, the speaker is the No. 4 citizen in Nigeria after the president, vice-president, and the senate president.

Last week, the governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, was prevented from entering Ekiti State by soldiers.

A similar incident took place in Kano after the announcement of the new emir, with military authorities barring private planes from landing in city.

Opposition leaders have described these incidents as misuse of power and acts of intimidation ahead of the 2015 general election.