Tambuwal’s Resignation And Jonathan’s Call To Action

The declaration by the speaker of the House of Representatives last Monday that he is not under pressure to resign throws up questions on the uneasy calm in the chamber and how it affects the leadership of the House. Also, the lawmakers’ call to action on the presidency as Shell last week said it may declare force majeure after one of its major pipelines, the Trans-Niger Pipeline, was again shutdown due to vandalism. Adesuwa Tsan writes on these and more issues.

I Am Not Under Pressure to Resign-Tambuwal

Speaker of the House of Representatives over the weekend, put paid to speculation about the status of his leadership in the House. After several months of alleged scheming and plotting by his colleagues who are not quite comfortable with his ‘coziness’ with the opposition and members of the Tukur-led PDP, the affirmation by Tambuwal is an assertion of authority.

Though the denial came on the heels of a story which was published in a national newspaper on Tuesday, October 8, 2013, which he described as not true, and “for all intents and purposes, part of a larger campaign to smear the person and integrity of the Number Four Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” it had reached a point that a statement had to be made to set the records straight.

The silence in the PDP faction notwithstanding, on close contact with some members, they are quick to tell you that they are neither anti nor pro Tambuwal in the House. A case in point is the recent publication of a congratulatory message to President Goodluck Jonathan by PDP members of the House of Representatives.

Ostensibly, the name of the speaker, other members of the leadership and members of the new PDP were missing. This gave an indication that there is division in the House that qualified some people to be on the list and excluded others. http://leadership.ng/news/151013/tambuwal-s-resignation-and-jonathan-s-call-action-0