The judgement is coming days after Tambuwal and the lawmakers from the All Progressives Congress (APC) instituted a court case against the Nigerian Police, joining as co-defendants, President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others. The court granted their petition that the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details be declared as illegal.
Tambuwal and his colleagues had also asked the court to stop the PDP caucus of the House from any planned impeachment.
Tambuwal’s security details were withdrawn by the Inspector-General of Police, apparently on the orders of the president barely 48 hours after he defected from the PDP to the APC and adjourned the House till 3rd December.
Abba had cited portions of the constitution as giving him the powers to withdraw Tambuwal’s security aides, adding that since he had defected, he was no longer recognised as the Speaker of the House. But Nigerians had reacted effusively to the action of the IGP, some accusing him of usurping the powers of the judiciary, stressing that only a court of law can make the pronouncement as to whether Tambuwal was fit to be speaker on account of the defection which made him a member of a minority party.
Nullifying Abba’s action, the court said Abba erred in law by withdrawing the security detail of the Speaker when Tambuwal was still in office as the Speaker and has not resigned or removed from office by impeachment.
The statement by the police had read that: “in view of the recent defection by the right Hon. Aminu Tambuwal CFR, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress and having regard to section 68 (1) g of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Amended, the Nigerian Police Force has withdrawn the Police personnel attached to his office.”
It was not immediately known as at the time of this report if the police authority would be appealing the judgment but it was yet to abide by the court ruling thus putting the IGP at the risk of contempt.
