The police orderlies controversially withdrawn from guarding the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, will be restored on Friday, TheCable reports.
Quoting a presidency source, the medium noted that the Acting IG “clearly acted on bad legal advice in taking the decision”. He revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan will convene a meeting on Friday to resolve the impasse.
Dispelling rumours that the order came from President Jonathan, the government source argued that; “the president believes in the rule of law and it is becoming glaring that the police did not get good legal advice in taking the decision they took. If the president was the one that ordered it, as claimed, why would he not also order DSS and civil defence to withdraw their men?” he asked.
Checks by DailyPost actually indicate that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Civil Defence Corps did not withdraw their men as they are seen within the premises of the Speaker who just defected from the PDP to the APC.
The presidency is yet to make an official pronouncement on the development despite the fact that all fingers are pointing in the direction of Jonathan.
The Acting Inspector-General of police, Suleiman Abba, yesterday ordered the withdrawal of security aides, citing Tambuwal’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as reason.
The action elicited widespread condemnation as being politically motivated. It is a common knowledge that officers of the police force are not empowered to interpret a constitutional matter.
Meanwhile, APC Senators are spoiling to make it difficult for Abba’s appointment as IGP to be confirmed. The IG, who was appointed in acting capacity in August, needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
It was gathered that leading APC senators, in reaction to the Tambuwal saga, have vowed to block Abba’s confirmation.
It remains to be seen how well they can effect their threat since Abba’s confirmation requires only a simple majority or a voice vote, and the APC is bereft of the numbers in the upper chamber of the National Assembly. PDP currently has 65 Senators out of the 109 lawmakers in the Senate.
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