NBA Wants Tambuwal's Security Aides Restored

Following the withdrawal of security personnel attached to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, by the Acting Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, has asked the police boss to reverse the order.

In a statement signed by its National President, Augustine Alegeh, the lawyers’ body described the situation as uncalled for. Alegeh said in the statement that the Police has no right to interpret the Constitution, noting that it is the job of the judiciary.

Few days after the Speaker defected from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, his (Tambuwal) security aides were withdrawn, a move that has been condemned by many, including Tambuwal’s new party.

The Police, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, had claimed it acted Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The Police said Tambuwal was no longer the Speaker of the House by virtue of his defection.

But the NBA maintained that, “Rt. Honourable Aminu Tambuwal still remains the Speaker of the House of Representatives and he is entitled to the full paraphernalia of his office, including all his police escort and security detail.”

Furthermore, the group emphasised that, “We must state that the mere fact that Rt. Honourable Aminu Tambuwal defected from one party to the other whilst being the Speaker of the House of Representatives, does not automatically strip him of his position as speaker of the House of Representatives and the attendant protection by the police.”

Tambuwal, a lawyer, was elected into the office as a member of the PDP before his defection recently. He has also condemned the action of the Police authorities.