There are strong indications that the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, will soon
defect to the All
Progressives Congress.
Our correspondent learnt in Abuja on
Monday that the Speaker was set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party for
the APC after a nationwide consultation.
Tambuwal’s spokesperson, Imam Imam, said
the nationwide consultation would determine whether the Speaker would
contest the Presidency or the Sokoto State governorship election in
2015.
Imam, who spoke with our correspondent on
the telephone, said that the Speaker was still consulting on the 2015
presidency and the defection to the APC.
Imam said, “He (Tambuwal) is still
consulting. The outcome of the consultation will be known at the
appropriate time. He is consulting on whether he will defect to the APC.
He is consulting on whether he will contest the presidency. He is also
consulting on contesting governorship election.”
The Speaker had on Tuesday, last week,
held a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in
Abeokuta, Ogun State.
After the meeting, Imam said Obasanjo and Tambuwal discussed the state of the nation.
He had said, “You know Baba (Obasanjo) is
father to all in the country. The visit was a consultation. It was
about how to move the country forward and make the country better.”
On Monday, www.thecable.ng reported that
Tambuwal gave the biggest hint about his planned defection on Sunday in
his hometown, Tambuwal, Sokoto State.
After collecting his Permanent Voter
Card, Tambuwal was asked if he would defect to the APC, he responded in
Hausa, “Kowa ni tsuntsu kukan gidan su yake yi,” meaning “birds of a
feather flock together.”
Imam, in the interview with our correspondent on Monday, explained Tambuwal’s statements in Sokoto State on Sunday.
He said, “The Speaker granted an
interview in Tambuwal yesterday (Sunday) after collecting his permanent
voter card. When journalists asked him questions about defection and
whether he would contest the Presidency, he only said that he had to
consult his people and the consultation is still going on.
“The outcome of the consultation with the
people will be made known at the appropriate time. Every politics is
local. It is the needs and aspirations of your locality that will
determine the direction of your own politics.”
The Speaker has enjoyed a strong support
of the APC members in the House. The support of the APC members was
instrumental to his victory over Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, the
candidate that the PDP backed for the position of a speaker.
The APC leaders that have been mentioned
as having interest in the party’s presidential ticket include a former
Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); the Kano State
Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and a former Kwara State Governor,
Senator Bukola Saraki.
Source:Punch Newspaper
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