Immunity: Reps divided over Mbu, laud Jonathan, military

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February 25, 2015

Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal

A motion on the alleged disrespectful conduct and utterances of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone II Command,   Joseph Mbu, on Tuesday divided members of the House   of Representatives along party lines.

An All Progressives Congress   member, Alo Madaki, had moved a motion asking the House to “condemn” Mbu for alleged violations of the 1999 Constitution and showing “disrespect for the rule of law.”

Madaki recalled that Mbu recently directed officers and men under his command to “disregard any immunity being enjoyed by state governors” under his zone.

He also said the AIG had directed his men to kill as many people as possible in retaliation for any policeman killed during the forthcoming general elections.

Madaki also told the House that Mbu “abused” his office when he served as the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command.

He argued that Mbu’s conduct and utterances were a violation of the constitutional immunity of the governors and also proved that he had little regard for the lives of Nigerians.

But, Peoples Democratic Party   members consistently interrupted him, accusing him of passing judgment on Mbu, whom they had not heard from.

A member from Ebonyi State,   Linus Okorie, raised a point of order to stop Madaki.

Okorie shouted that Mbu must first be given fair hearing before a judgment of condemnation was passed on him.

The House suddenly became rowdy as the APC lawmakers shouted at Okorie to sit down.

“Sit down; sit down; you don’t have anything to say”, some of them shouted.

As the row continued,   Ihedioha tried to rule on the motion, but he too was interrupted by both parties.

However, pressure was mounted on Madaki to amend his motion to read that the House should “investigate” Mbu’s alleged conduct and utterances.

Madaki deleted “condemn” from the motion and replaced it with “investigation by the House Committee on Police Affairs” before the motion was later passed in a majority voice vote.

It has become difficult of late for the PDP members   in the House and their APC colleagues to speak with one voice on any issue.

The rift grew wider following a series of defections from the PDP to the APC.

PDP majority leader, Imo Rep in shouting match

But for the quick intervention of their colleagues, a PDP member in the House,   Ironna Gerald, almost slapped the Majority Leader, Mulikat Akande-Adeola, during   Tuesday’s plenary.

The plenary had hardly started when Gerald went to Akande-Adeola to find out   why she always excluded him from PDP caucus meetings.

Following an     argument that ensued   between them, the lawmaker from Imo State threatened to “embarrass” Akande-Adeola.

Gerald’s anger came barely 48 hours after the Majority Leader led the PDP caucus members to a “strategy” meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Aso Rock Villa on Sunday night.

The drama took place amid speculation that Gerald might have felt that his ‘interests’ were not taken care of by the leader after the meeting.

The Imo State-born lawmaker had started by asking Akande-Adeola whether she had ever invited him to a PDP caucus meeting.

The leader’s reaction   apparently infuriated him as he started shouting, “I will embarrass you; I will embarrass you.’’

As he made to move in anger to Akande-Adeola, he was quickly stopped by the Deputy House Leader,   Leo Ogor, and a couple of other House members.

On her part, Akande-Adeola warned Gerald never to behave towards her in such a manner next time.

As tempers rose, the presiding Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, called Akande-Adeola to the Chair for briefing on what caused the altercation.

The two House principal officers conferred for a few seconds before Akande-Adeola returned to her sit.

When contacted for comments later, the House leader dismissed the issue as “a minor caucus matter.”

Akande-Adeola   said the insinuation that money must have caused the drama was not true.

“No, money never exchanged hands,” she told reporters.

The Majority Leader claimed that there was a mix-up in text messaging, an indication that perhaps, Gerald did not get a message sent to members inviting them to the meeting.

However, she stated that there was indeed a meeting with Jonathan, where issues of mutual interests to the PDP and its members were discussed.

Gerald declined to speak on the cause of the quarrel when his views were sought.

He referred journalists to Akande-Adeola, saying she was in a better position to comment “because she is the House Leader.”

A scheduled debate on the use of the military during elections was postponed till Wednesday (today).

The House had last week referred the matter to its joint Committees on Rules/Business, Justice and Judiciary for advice after it pitted PDP and APC lawmakers against one another.

The   Chairman of the joint committees,   Albert Sam-Tsokwa, had told the House that a report on the deliberations on the issue was ready but asked to be allowed to present it on Wednesday(today).

This came as members unanimously commended the Armed Forces for the successes they recorded against Boko Haram   in the North-East in the last few days.

The House also praised President Goodluck Jonathan, saying the armed forces achieved the feat owing to the support he (Jonathan) gave to them by releasing funds for sophisticated weapons.

Meanwhile, the House leadership   has declined   to give the official numerical strength of its PDP and APC members.

A series of defections since December 2014, has cut the membership of the PDP to around 161, while the APC’s jumped to about 180.

The development implies that the APC is now the majority party.

However, the leadership structure of the House has remained unchanged with the PDP still occupying majority leadership seats.

A lawmaker from Imo State,   Nnana Igbokwe, had moved a motion on Tuesday asking that the Clerk to the House,   Mohammed Sani-Omolori, should be directed to release the official figures of both parties.

Igbokwe argued that this was necessary so that the issue of which party was the majority should no longer be left to guesswork.

“Defections are bound to continue and we have to keep updating from time to time,” he added.

But, Ihedioha quickly ruled that the matter of House leadership was still in court.

It will be recalled that last week, the Speaker,   Aminu Tambuwal, also ruled out a similar motion on the same grounds of the issue being in court.