UPDATED: Court fails to sack Tambuwal as speaker, asks PDP to serve him notice

A federal high court in Abuja has granted leave to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to file for an order compelling Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, to vacate his seat.

However, the court did not grant PDP’s prayer for Tambuwal’s seat to be declared vacant but asked that the speaker be allowed to defend himself.

Mike Ahamba, counsel to PDP and a senior advocate of Nigeria, had filed an ex parte application urging the court to compel Tambuwal to declare his seat as speaker and that of his constituency vacant.

Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, a justice of the federal high court in Abuja, instead granted the PDP leave to file a motion for an order mandating Tambuwal to declare his seat in the house vacant.

With this ruling, Tambuwal will now be allowed to file his own application in the law suit, thereby avoiding an immediate removal as canvassed by the PDP.

Mohammed also dismissed the application of Tambuwal’s constituency seeking to join the suit against the PDP.

Tambuwal had filed a suit against the PDP over its attempts to remove him as speaker after his defection from the party to APC.

On November 20, the police attempted to stop him from entering the national assembly complex, firing canisters of tear gas at him.

Following the commotion that ensued, David Mark, senate president and chairman of the national assembly, shut down the parliament.

Tambuwal had convened a special session of the house to deliberate on the request of President Goodluck Jonathan for an extension of the state of emergency in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states.

However, the lawmakers rejected the president’s request for an extension of emergency rule in the three north-eastern states.