“…Live by the sword, die by the sword”… Mathew 26 vs 52
[dropcap]S[/dropcap]peaker of the Federal House of Representative Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged in 2011 through an act of disobedience and he is now set to leave the position through the same door of disobedience which he came from.
After the 2011 general elections and in accordance with existing political tradition to have the six geopolitical zones of the country equally represented, the position of Speaker of the lower chambers of the National Assembly was zoned to the South West of the country by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The party had perfected arrangements for Hon. Mulikat Akande Adeola the current majority leader of the House to emerge as Speaker and fill the position for the South west. But Tambuwal then a member of the majority PDP came together with a group of his disgruntled party members and hatched a plot with members of the opposition party the APC and assumed the Speakership. This rebellion ensured that the North West geopolitical zone of the country which already produced the number two citizen in the person of the Vice President Namadi Sambo will also produce the number four citizen in the person of Tambuwal and effectively shortchanging the South West in the political hierarchy of the country.
For the first time since 1999, the number two citizen of the country together with the number three and number four all hailed from the north with the North West occupying number two and four.
After over three years of flirting with the opposition party ever since they helped him to secure the speakership position in the green chambers, Tambuwal is set to be ushered out through the same door he walked through. Hon. Tambuwal after months of speculation finally announced his decamping to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) but in a rather show of disobedience to the law has refused to relinquish his position as Speaker of the House of Representative which he automatically lost through his cross carpeting. It is rather surprising that Hon. Tambuwal a trained lawyer is exhibiting such disregard for the law by attempting to hang on by all means to a position in which he no longer occupies. Section 68 sub-section 1(G) of the constitution clearly states that: “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representative shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.” That section is clear enough and doesn’t need a lawyer to understand or interpret the meaning, talk less of a man with legal training like Tambuwal. It is imperative therefore for Hon. Tambuwal to do the needful and save our dear nation this unnecessary embarrassment.
It is shocking that Tambuwal could be desecrating the constitution and people especially the leaders of the opposition party are clapping for him. No wonder he recently withdrew his candidacy for the Presidential elections as his recent actions are unbecoming and unpresidential. Not left out in this macabre dance of shame are Honorable members of the House from the opposition party who were elected to make laws who now turn around and do the dishonorable by breaking the law and childishly scaling gates and smuggling Tambuwal into the chambers before the full glare of the cameras and viewing public. Today is really a sad day to be called a Nigerian. Most of these lawmakers who should know the law better could have saved our Police Force the stress of having to enforce the law on full grown men that are apparently suffering from adult delinquency.
Diana-Abasi Udoh is a writer, politician, public affairs analyist, lecturer, and agronomist. He tweets from @dian4real.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
