How PDP's Attempt To ImpeachTambuwal On Thursday Was Leaked To Legislators

Fresh facts emerged yesterday that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, and members of the chamber scaled the fence to enter the National Assembly to abort a plot to impeach the Speaker.

The Representatives were also said to have  jumped the fence to avoid mass arrest by the police which had called for reinforcement.

The lawmakers said it was more ‘sacred’ being within the Assembly complex than being outside.

But the pro-Tambuwal lawmakers and the Presidency yesterday returned to the drawing board ahead of December 3 resumption date of the House.

Investigation  revealed that anti-Tambuwal forces had hatched a plot on Wednesday night to stop the Speaker from gaining entry to the National Assembly Complex for Thursday session.

It was gathered that once there was blockade against the Speaker and some of his core loyalists, the PDP members in the House would then impeach Tambuwal and leave his fate to the courts.

A member of the House, who was one of those who jumped over the Assembly gate, said: “The picture was bigger than what Nigerians are saying on why we scaled the fence. We got wind of a plot to impeach the Speaker in a Kangaroo manner on Thursday and we had to take our destiny in our hands.

“Some principal officers of the National Assembly on Wednesday night met with certain forces in the Presidency where the plot was perfected.

“Sensing that the police force was acting the script, which we obtained from intelligence source, we decided to force our way into the chamber.

“The defiance of barricade and tear-gas foiled the impeachment plot against the Speaker. If we had turned back from the gate, Tambuwal would have been removed by now.”

A principal officer said: “They wanted to remove the Speaker and force the 36 Representatives who defected from PDP to APC to vacate their seats.

“So, you can see that a desperate situation deserves a desperate solution. We all refused to take things for granted.”

The chairman of one of the choice committees in the House said: “Lawmakers forced their way to the precinct of the Assembly complex to avoid giving the police any excuse for the clampdown on Tambuwal and others.

The scaling of the wall assisted the Representatives to be within the Assembly complex which is legislatively a ‘sacred’ area for anybody to encroach on.

“When they initially stopped Tambuwal, it was outside the Assembly gate. If anything untoward had happened, the police would have said it was outside the Assembly complex.

“While Tambuwal and others were outside the gate, the police called for reinforcement to stop them from entering the National Assembly.

Another lawmaker however explained that before members jumped over the gate, they were attacked with pepper-stray.

The source added: “We have heard that the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has said the police force is investigating the invasion of the National Assembly by his officers and men. We want him to also probe why pepper-spray was used on some of us.

“It is such a sad development. After the pepper-spray, we were also tear-gassed.”

Meanwhile, the pro-Tambuwal lawmakers and forces in the presidency yesterday returned to the drawing board ahead of the resumption of the House on December 3.

A principal officer in the House said: “Though the Speaker travelled to Sokoto to obtain governorship nomination form, we have all been meeting to re-strategise on how to prevent a repeat of this episode on December 3.

“We learnt that they are insisting that Tambuwal must go. We will resist this because the executive cannot dictate to us how we should manage the legislature.

“The anti-Tambuwal forces in the Presidency are also thinking of judicial ambush by seeking frivolous injunctions from court but we are watching our back too.

“You can see that after the fracas in the National Assembly, Vice President Namadi Sambo met with some principal officers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Some of us are also consulting our parties for advice on the next line of action. So, the battle is not yet over. We are only happy that the plot they hatched on Thursday backfired.”