Aftermath Of Tambuwal's Defection: Presidency, PDP Move Against Emeka Ihedioha

Strong indications have emerged that President Goodluck Jonathan and
the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are
unhappy with the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.
Emeka Ihedioha, over the latter's private reception for Speaker Aminu
Tambuwal a few hours after the speaker defected from the PDP to the
All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday.
The reception which was said to have taken place at the deputy
speaker's guest house on Pope John Paul Street, off Gana Street,
Maitama, Abuja, few hours after the mini-national convention of the
APC, was attended by most members of APC in the House.
Ihedioha has, however, dismissed the report as 'not sensible' while
Tambuwal directed all enquiries on the matter to the deputy speaker's
men.
The reception, which was initially meant to be a private one for
Tambuwal, was later 'invaded' by other members of the lower chamber,
including some PDP members, a reliable source told our correspondent.
A presidential aide told our correspondent yesterday in Abuja that the
deputy speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, had been asked to explain which
master he had elected to serve "because we cannot understand why he
chose to host Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to a warm reception a few hours
after he defected from our party to APC.
"Is the deputy speaker with us or he is planning to move to the APC
with his boss? The PDP deserves an answer from him.''
The presidential aide asserted that, at this 'critical moment of
political decision,' President Jonathan wanted to be very clear on
whose side the deputy speaker belonged.
The presidential aide continued: "You know this man (referring to
Ihedioha) cannot be trusted; he has consistently worked against the
party in the past. He now appears to be working for the PDP because of
his 2015 political interest. But even at that, we do not know where he
truly belongs."
When contacted, the media adviser to Tambuwal, Malam Imam Imam, said
all clarifications on the issue should be referred to Ihedioha's
aides.
The chief press secretary to the deputy speaker, Oke Epia, however,
described the report as inconsequential.
"This is a non-issue; are those behind this saying the deputy speaker
would want to do that to show that he is in APC? I can tell you that
this is not a sensible thing at all,"Epia said.
The development came as the presidency was said to have directed the
Nigeria Police Force, State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to withdraw their security
personnel attached to the speaker for defecting from the PDP to the
APC.
The acting inspector-general of police, Suleiman Abba, confirmed the
redeployment of the police personnel attached to Tambuwal on
Wednesday.
The force public relations officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, in a statement
yesterday in Abuja, hinged the withdrawal of Tambuwal's security aides
on Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Security details attached to the speaker were said to have been
withdrawn yesterday morning.
After his defection on Wednesday, Tambuwal vowed to work with his new
party to dislodge the 'PDP cabal' from power in the 2015 general
election.
--Leadership