BEVERLY HILLS, November 26, (THEWILL) – The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba, Wednesday bluntly told the House Committee investigating the clash between members of the House of Representatives and police officers deployed to the National Assembly that the law no longer recognizes Rt. Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, as Speaker of the House because of his defection to another political party.
Tambuwal defected from the majority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). There have been mixed reactions since his defection some days back with some political analysts and constitutional lawyers questioning his continued stay as Speaker, as well as even his membership of the House.
The IGP’s refusal to address and recognize Tambuwal as Speaker led to the abrupt end of Wednesday’s investigative hearing instituted by the House because of the commotion that led to the teargasing of Tambuwal alongside other members of the assembly last Thursday, by the Police.
The House appointed Honourable Usman Kumo as Chairman of the investigative committee.
However, before the session’s abrupt end, the IGP had described the lawmakers that combated the police for sealing off the National Assembly as “political thugs”, saying officers were deployed to prevent strategic institutions from attack following credible intelligence of their invasion by political thugs, reminding lawmakers that the APC had threatened to cause Mayhem in Abuja.
Images of lawmakers climbing the huge second gate at the National Assembly made news headlines on Thursday through the weekend.
“On the 19th of November, members of a political party including their leaders and a serving Governor conducted a rally at the Eagle Square. They proceeded in a procession to the headquarters of the Nigeria Police and made uncomplimentary statements among which was the fact that what they were doing that afternoon was just a tip of the iceberg of what they will be doing in subsequent days.
“They promised to come back on the 20th to continue the procession with the blockage of the police headquarters, and even promising to extend to other areas including the National Assembly and the headquarters of INEC,” IGP Abba said.
The IGP said the police force has opened investigations into the incident, particularly the teargasing of lawmakers.
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