As the face-off between the Presidency and the leadership of the House of Representatives deepens following last week’s visit by leaders of the breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the House, members have been thrown into confusion over the next line of action by the Presidency.
The Presidency is said to have been deeply upset by the elaborate reception and undue attention given the ‘rebels’ by the leadership of the House, led by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.
A source, who is privy to the development, told Vanguard yesterday that the Presidency was angry that Tambuwal allowed the Abubakar Baraje-led faction an unfettered access to the hallowed chambers of the House, thereby conferring more status on them to heap insults on the leaders of the mainstream PDP.
ROWDY REPS—Members of the House of Representatives during the brawl after the visit by Abubakar Baraje’s led nPDP
The Presidency is said to have come to inescapable conclusion that Tambuwal was hobnobbing with the ‘opposition’ at the expense of the PDP and the Presidency when he granted audience to the rebel governors and the leadership of the nPDP.
The source, who is a lawmaker from one of the Southern states, noted that the Presidency had initially opted to vent its anger on Tambuwal and his deputy, Emeka Ihedioha, by mobilising its supporters in the House to move against them but tactically dropped the idea when it discovered to its dismay that the plot would not sail through.
It was learnt that those in favour of Tambuwal in the House were found to be more in number than those backing the President, thereby forcing his strategists to change course and opt for peace.
But it also emerged that the Presidency was still trying to woo more members of the House to its side with a view to changing the leadership of the House of Representatives, which is suspected to have more active alliance with the nPDP and the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, than the Senate.
Vanguard learnt that strategists of the President had withdrawn to the drawing board on how to ‘punish’ the Speaker and his deputy for the role they played in promoting the cause of the rebel to visit the House and cause more crisis in the mainstream PDP.
While the Presidency cannot easily get at Tambuwal because of the solid support he is enjoying from members, which cuts across party lines, it is said to be mulling withdrawing its tacit support for Ihedioha’s ambition to become the governor of Imo State in 2015.
A source close to the Presidency said, “Ihedioha’s offence is that he is seen as not being very loyal to the Jonathan’s camp, having supported Tambuwal in all the anti-party actions he has been taking over time.
“That is why the Presidency appears to be shifting its support to another politician from Imo State, Bethel Amadi, who is seen as more supportive of the President and his wife than Ihedioha.
“When they needed someone they could trust in the wake of the crisis, they relied on Amadi and almost wrote off Ihedioha,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker explained that although the Presidency could not remove the Speaker at the moment, his support base was however not as solid as before, thereby leaving him at the mercy of members.
But one of the seven governors in the Baraje camp confirmed that Tambuwal was doing his job as a detribalised Nigerian politician, who should be supported by all Nigerians to move the legislature forward.
The governor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pledged to mobilise their representatives to stand solidly behind the Speaker to ensure that forces loyal to the President did not remove him.
“Nigerians need more straightforward and honest politicians like Tambuwal and David Mark to move the country forward.
“We believe that the forces of retrogression will not be able to supplant them,” the governor stated.
As the crisis persist, most of the members in the House of Representatives are now left to do the bidding of their governors, who are either in support or against the President’s second term bid.
The members, particularly first timers, are said to be working hard to be seen as loyal to the Presidency and their governors in the old PDP so as to be given a second term tickets in 2015.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the House has set up a mediatory committee to help iron out the differences between the new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, and the old bloc PDP.
Vanguard reliably gathered that the essence of setting up the committee is to ensure that both the old and the new PDP worked in harmony.
The source also confirmed that the Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, was expected to chair the committee, being an experienced member of the House.
He said: “But there are pockets of complaints from members who felt that the deputy leader may not deliver the much needed peace in this 7th Assembly.
“He is a partisan member and that is why most of our members are kicking against his chairmanship. Older members of the House could chair the committee, not necessarily the deputy leader that we know is actively involved in the old PDP activities in the House.”
Another source, however, countered him, saying”the leadership did not make any mistake because Ogor is very capable in terms of mobilising both blocs into accepting a truce.
“As we speak, the committee is already meeting to fashion ways and means out of this debacle. So choosing Ogor was the best thing that ever happened for now.”
A source also close to the House leadership told Vanguard that”if we do not reconcile now, then be rest assured that no old PDP member bill will ever sail through.
“What you guys saw before the break is a child’s play because this time around, we will turn the floor into a battle arena.
“The old PDP offended our leaders by disrupting the Kawu Baraje-led PDP meeting with us and we may not be in a hurry to forget that terrible incident.”
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