Tambuwal soft-pedals as PDP plots ouster

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will move against Aminu Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives, following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), party insiders have told TheCable.

The speaker finally registered as a member of APC on Monday evening at his hometown, Tambuwal, in Sokoto state, TheCable confirmed from several of his associates.

Although his spokesman, Imam Imam, issued a statement saying his principal was still “consulting”, TheCable can further report that Tambuwal is only watching for reactions from his former party before taking the next step of formally announcing his defection.

PDP insiders have informed TheCable that the party will move against Tambuwal “both politically and legally”.

One of the options being worked upon is for a member of the house of reps to institute a legal action to seek the removal of Tambuwal as speaker.

But they will have to wait for Tambuwal to make the official pronouncement.

Sensing the game plan, Tambuwal has decided to soft-pedal, shelving his initial plan to inform his colleagues at plenary on Tuesday that he is now in a new party.

However, Tambuwal’s associates insist that he does not have to step down because it is not so stipulated in the constitution.

“We will test this in a court of law,” a member of the PDP board of trustees told TheCable. “It is not as simple as people are interpreting the law.”

Tambuwal, TheCable was told, will not make an official pronouncement yet since any legal action will have to be based on evidence.

PDP is also considering the option of impeachment, but insiders are unsure about the success of such a move if the legal option does not materialise.

“We do not have the numbers. We need 240 out of the 360 lawmakers to remove him. There is no such chance,” a ranking PDP member said.

PDP currently has less than 200 members in the house of representatives, following a gale of defections.

An associate of Tambuwal told TheCable that the speaker will watch as events unfold on Tuesday and the rest of the week.

“He has his cards close to his chest. But it is a done deal. Tambuwal is officially a member of APC and will, insha Allah, vie for the governorship of Sokoto state in 2015,” he said.