Jonathan holds crisis meeting over Tambuwal

President Goodluck Jonathan has met with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the defection of Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the meeting were some governors and leaders of the house of reps who are PDP members.

Tambuwal announced his defection on Tuesday and adjourned the house sitting till December 3, ostensibly for members to face electioneering issues.

However, it is believed that the adjournment was meant to frustrate any moves to fight back by his former party.

None of those who attended the meeting volunteered any information to journalists.

Mohammed Adoke, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, was also at the meeting.

TheCable understands that the PDP would be banking on section 68 (g) of the constitution to declare Tambuwal’s seat vacant and ask INEC to conduct a byelection in his constituency.

The section says: “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected. Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

The case of those who defected earlier is now at the court of appeal as they lost their plea to remain in the national assembly at the high court.