Defection: No plans to impeach Tambuwal - Deputy House Leader

Exchange of hot words between Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Con­gress (APC) members in the House of Representatives con­tinued yesterday with the Dep­uty Leader Leo Ogor (Delta, PDP), accusing APC caucus of deliberately misrepresenting facts regarding the current tense situation in the chamber.

He also cleared the air about the purported plots to impeach Speak­er Aminu Tambuwal by the PDP legislator over his defection to the APC. He declared that there was no truth in the claims stressing that there was no justification for seek­ing the removal of the Speaker.

He said it would be 'very diffi­cult' to get the two-third signatures needed to begin an impeachment procedure against the Speaker.

'The issue of impeachment is almost impossible because we will find it difficult to get the two-third of lawmakers' signatures'.

He took a swipe at the APC law­makers over what he called the continued distortion of the rules of the House.

According to him, contrary to the claims of APC caucus in its last Monday briefing that the House can only cut short its current recess at the instance of the Speaker, 'the House can reconvene if it forms a quorum to discuss issues of na­tional interest such as the budget.'

Citing Order 5(14)2, the deputy leader said the House Rules states that all leaders of political parties and not only of a particular party, must give their nod to the recon­vening of the House. He argued that the APC caucus made it look like they were the only party in the House 'when there are Accord, APGA and Labour.

'The House Rules clearly states all political parties. Mind you, there are other parties. For anyone to go with the impression that there are no other parties except the PDP and APC, it is misleading.' It is easy for us to reconvene the House if we so desire. I disagree that we do not have the power to convene the House.

'This issue has nothing to do with impeachment or whatever. What the APC caucus has passed to the public is very wrong and unnecessary interpretation just be­cause they want to be in the favour of the public. 'Once we form a quorum and we want to reconvene the House, definitely, we can go ahead and do so. There are many issues that are pending that we have not addressed; the budget is there, MTEF is also there. And MTEF is a very important document and if we don't pass it, we will have a problem passing the 2015 budget. 'Time is not on our side, election is around the corner. We have to try as much as possible to ensure that these documents which affect the public are properly attended to.' - The Sun.