Jonathan Plans to Reconvene House Plenary, Plans Shocker for Speaker

Indication have emerged that the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker of the House of Representative by the Nigeria Police Force on Thursday, may not be the end of the plot against the speaker following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sources said President Goodluck Jonathan and some top members of the PDP in the House have concluded plans to reconvene the House plenary within the next one week, ostensibly to take further actions over the speaker’s defection.

Tambuwal had on Tuesday adjourned the House till December 3 after he stunned his colleagues by announcing his defection from the PDP to the opposition All Peoples

It was gathered that the decision to reconvene the House was part of the outcomes of the meeting between Jonathan and some principal officers of the House and PDP leaders.

The principal officers were the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; the Majority Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola; and the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor.

A reliable source in the House said, Jonathan and the PDP lawmakers are relying on enabling provisions which requires the approval of one-third of the total number of 360 members to reconvene the House.

“What will happen is that about 120 members will sign and pass over to the speaker, asking that the House should be reconvened. That is what is going to happen in the next one week,” the source said.

It was gathered that the President’s meeting with the PDP House leaders also resolved to bar Tambuwal from entering either his office or the National Assembly when the House resumes on December 3.

The presidency is said to be relying on a legal advice that the speaker based on the provision of section Section 68 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

The section reads, “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if –

(g) 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.”

A source said it was on the basis of this provision that the Nigerian police stripped the speaker of his security details.

He noted that the speaker contravened section (68)(1)(g) by defecting when there is a subsisting court injunction to the effect that there is no division in the PDP.

According to him, the decision to strip Tambuwal of all the rights and privileges of the speaker was taken based on that legal submission.

The source added that the government and the PDP leadership   resolved that instead of taking Tambuwal to court for defecting without vacating his seat, he would be the one to go to court when his rights are withdrawn.

He said, “The withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details is in order. Section 68 (1)(g) made it clear that a lawmaker who defects when there is no division in his party shall vacate his seat.

“The legal advice is that the operational word there is ‘shall.’ That section of the constitution is self-

“There is a subsisting court injunction that there is no division in the PDP and that there is no merger.