Tambuwal, Dogara meet Buhari, decline to speak with journalists

Aminu Tambuwal, former speaker of house of representatives, and Yakubu Dogara, his successor, were on Tuesday  spotted at the presidential villa, where they held a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Both men spent approximately 47 minutes at the villa, after arriving in the speaker’s car at 3pm prompt.

They turned down attempts of journalists to make them comment on the likely purpose of their visit, suspected to be one or all of the current crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC), the budget-padding allegations rocking the lower chamber and the planned sale of national assets to fund the 2016 budget deficit.

While Tambuwal said he had already shared his thoughts on asset sale with the media so there was nothing new to say‎, and that he was unaware of any crisis in the APC, Dogara kept mum all through‎.

Allegations of budget-padding first surfaced against Dogara during the recess of the house, but the speaker looked unruffled as lawmakers addressed the matter after reconvening, and it is the accuser, Jibrin Abdulmumin, who is being probed by the ethics committee.

The debate generated by the planned sale of national assets is ongoing, the latest update being the senate’s vote in opposition on Tuesday. ‎

Meanwhile, the APC has been a subject of public scrutiny since Sunday night, when Bola Tinubu, its national leader, publicly demanded the resignation of John Oyegun, the national chairman, over the manner in which Rotimi Akeredolu emerged candidate of the party in the Ondo state governorship election.

But Oyegun attempted to douse the tension on Monday when he told journalists that he could not be heard speaking evil of Tinubu, his “leader”.

“Asiwaju is a well-respected leader of the APC and as such, I cannot be heard speaking evil against him. You know we have a crucial election here in Edo which is my priority right now,” Oyegun had said.

“Everybody knows me and I don’t joke with my credibility and I have tried to maintain it. Like I said, Asiwaju is our leader and we all hold him in high esteem, so I will never join issues with him.”