Wednesday 16 January 2013

A Plot To Remove Tambuwal Discovered

Speaker-House-of-Representatives-Aminu-Tambuwal-360x225A fresh plot to destabilise the House of Representatives has been uncovered by the leadership.
An unknown group, Transparency Network (TN), has been formed to unseat the Speaker and others, The Nation learnt yesterday.
The House resumes today. Some members are said to have been financially influenced to cause chaos over the purchase of 400 Toyota Camry cars.
The cars were bought last year by the National Assembly management but the “plotters” have perfected plans to implicate the Speaker and other principal officers to force them to step aside.
The plot, which is being coordinated by an influential member of the House from Borno State, was hatched last Thursday at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja .
The said co-ordinator allegedly linked to some powerful forces who have vowed to sack Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and his team, met with some lawmakers, who were asked to cut short their vacation.
A source, who spoke in confidence, gave an insight into the nocturnal session.
The source said the co-ordinator made some documents available to the selected members of the House, including the bid for the cars.
According to the source, the coordinator sold a dummy to the lawmakers on how the Speaker and other principal officers allegedly benefited from the purchase of the cars.
It was learnt that before the close of the session, the members decided to form a group called Transparency Network.
By their plans, members of the TN are expected to raise the alarm, confront the Speaker today and throw the House into commotion.
But the plot leaked, following a disagreement over how the co-ordinator shortchanged those recruited for the plot, raking in millions.
The source added: “The dollar cash made available per head for the plot to cause mayhem was under-declared and this development created a crack.
“Some aggrieved members of the so-called TN decided to serve as whistle-blowers to teach the co-ordinator a lesson.
“A member of the House from Bauchi State, who was part of the meeting, said a committee had been set up by the aggrieved members to finetune their strategies ahead of the resumption of the House today.”
The source quoted the aggrieved lawmaker from Bauchi State as saying: “First, we are not happy with the amount they said they have purchased committee cars for the House. We want to know how much was spent and who was given the contract.
“The members, who attended the meeting later expressed reservation about the money allegedly given to the coordinator for the project.
“We’ve since realised that the ultimate aim was to destabilise the leadership of the House for some sinister motives,” he added.
A principal officer of the House said yesterday that the Leadership of the House had no business with the purchase of cars.
“If you recall, last year, we passed a resolution distancing ourselves from all contracts in the House. We reaffirmed that only the management of the National Assembly is empowered by law to issue contracts and since then we have had nothing to do with such issues. To us, this is no issue at all.
“The issue of cars is not new to us, you know it was the bone of contention during the sixth Assembly where the former Speaker had issue with the purchase of Peugeot cars for the members. With that experience in mind, we decided we won’t go there at all.”
This is the fifth time that the Speaker has faced a plot to remove him from office since he was elected in defiance of the zoning policy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In April 2012, attempts were made to impeach Tambuwal, following the $620,000 Farouk Lawal bribery scandal. Members of the House stood by him.
After resisting pressure to sack their leadership, members opted to pass a vote of confidence on him and gave him a standing ovation during the emergency session convened to handle the matter.
NaijaCenter

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