Tambuwal: APC accuses Jonathan of political desperation

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of sabotaging his administration’s war against Boko Haram on the altar of personal vindictiveness and political desperation.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party alleged that the president’s desperation to oust Aminu Tambuwal as the speaker of House of Representatives, was why the House could not meet yesterday as scheduled to consider his request for an extension of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
‘’For a President, who has severally stated his administration’s commitment to the battle against the insurgency in the North-East, is it not a cruel irony that he allowed his personal ego and political desperation to override his sense of propriety by moving to have Tambuwal removed instead of having the House of Representatives sit to consider his request?
‘’Does anyone need any more evidence that the president’s sole pre-occupation is how to win the 2015 elections, rather than the fate of the hundreds of Nigerians who are daily being killed and maimed at the epicentre of the insurgency? Had he been genuinely committed to the fight against the insurgents, would the president not have allowed the House to sit to consider his request? How does he feel now that the entire National Assembly has been shut down because of his capricious action?’’ it queried.
The APC further alleged: “The plot was simple: The Presidency decided to use the reconvening of the House as an opportunity to remove the speaker. While Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, was accorded a presidential ride into the premises of the National Assembly, House Speaker, Tambuwal, was barred from entry by the hordes of security agents who have been deployed solely for that purpose.
‘’Their plan was to ensure that, with Tambuwal locked out, Ihedioha would preside over the reconvened House and the speaker will then be removed. The consideration of the request to extend the state of emergency was not important to the Presidency. The fate of the Nigerians who are suffering from the insurgency, which has displaced 1.5 million people, does not bother the Presidency. All it wanted is to remove Tambuwal,’’ the party said.