The House of Representatives, last Wednesday, held a special valedictory session in honour of its outgoing Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal. PHILIP NYAM reviews Tambuwal’s last address to the lawmakers and his unique politicking
The new governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who until last Thursday represented Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in the House since 2003, will go down in history as the first speaker to have presided over the lower chamber on the platform of two political parties. He bowed out gracefully on Wednesday, May 27 after receiving glowing tributes and encomiums from his colleagues. A shrewd and unassuming politician, Tambuwal’s brand of politicking and experience will be greatly missed in the House. Tambuwal’s exit also set a precedence in the House as power was officially transmitted to his deputy, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, to complete the term in acting capacity.
While transferring the powers of the speaker to the deputy speaker, the House resolved to suspend Order II, Rule 9 of its standing orders to enable the deputy speaker perform the duties and functions of the Speaker for the remainder of the life of the 7th House, in accordance with Order VII, Rule 25 (1) of the standing orders of the House. Order 11, Rule 9 of the House standing order provides that: “Whenever a vacancy has occurred in the office of the speaker or deputy speaker during a session, the clerk shall report same to the House at its next sitting, and the House shall either forthwith, or at its next sitting, proceed to the election of a new Speaker in the manner herein before provided.”
The House resolution was sequel to a motion moved by the chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Albert Sam-Tsokwa and 21 others entitled, “suspension of Order II, Rule 9 of the standing orders of the House of Representatives: Vacancy in the office of the Speaker.” In the motion, Sam-Tsokwa noted that the outgoing speaker, Tambuwal, would be sworn in as the governor of Sokoto on May 29, adding that such would make him to cease to be a member of the House and by extension Speaker of the House after taking his oath of office. Ideally, there would have been an election for a new speaker after Tambuwal’s resignation. But the House decided at an executive session not to conduct any election. It instead resolved to elevate the deputy speaker to the status of speaker. This has never happened in the House before.
Achievements
In a farewell speech to the House, Tambuwal expressed happiness at the unity that pervaded the chamber throughout the session. Tambuwal in the emotion laden address entitled “power of unity of purpose” extolled the courage exhibited by his colleagues by insisting on choosing leaders of their choice instead of adhering to the party’s directive. He cherished the independence of the legislature that ensued after his election as speaker and the tenacity of purpose displayed by the members. “Through the power of the unity of purpose you boldly made that statement by electing leaders of your choice and ensuring that their tenure would not be determined only by you to the exclusion of all external forces.
By this, the power of unity of purpose had broken the walls of clannishness and retrogressive partisanship,” he said. According to Tambuwal, any legislature that seeks to fulfil its duty and obligation to the electorate whom they represent must exercise its independence and this comes at a price. “A legislature truly playing its checks and balances role would normally experience friction with the other arms of government and other interest groups who have broken the law or desire to break the law in the course of time. We had more than a fair share of this friction and torment but overcame because the naughty walls of partisanship and selfish pecuniary considerations could not withstand the power of unity of purpose.”
Tambuwal was happy that his reign as speaker was ‘scandal free’ unlike the previous Houses that were characterised by crisis and allegations of corruption. According to him, “other than the allegations against three members, two of which have already been judicially resolved in favour of the members, the Seventh House of Representatives has successfully ran the full course scandal-free. Even in these two isolated cases, the House stood firmly on the path of public probity.” The former speaker noted that the 7th House can be generally assessed as substantially stable. He observed that there were no cases of internally-generated crisis while all machinations of externally induced crises were stoutly resisted by members.
“It is evidence of the power of unity of purpose that with the gale of defections and counter-defections and the multiplicity of litigations, the House still maintained its focus and came out stronger than ever,” he stated. He, however, advised that in spite of the achievements they recorded in avoiding corruption, the 8th House, still has the Herculean task of getting the general public to begin to appreciate the distinction between the legislature corporate and individual legislators. The Sokoto-born lawyer also acknowledged the excellent relationship that existed between the two chambers of the National Assembly, noting that “the Seventh House enjoyed a very robust relationship of mutual respect and sense of common purpose with the Senate throughout this four-year period. I take this opportunity to most highly commend the President of the Senate, Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark for this show of leadership. I equally commend all Distinguished Senators of the Seventh Senate for the spirit of common purpose exhibited all through the years.”
Regrets
These achievements notwithstanding, the former speaker rued the no love lost between the legislature (particularly the House) and the presidency most part of their four year tenure. He regretted that the disagreement between them was ‘unnecessary and a distraction’. “I must say that the frosty relationship between the Executive and Seventh House was an unnecessary distraction and a source of embarrassment to the nation. It is unwarranted that a ruling party with clear majority boxed itself into that situation. If the executive fails to recognise the independence of the legislature and expects that it is rubber stamp then frosty relation is bound to follow,” Tambuwal stated.
The former speaker was not happy that in spite of the huge amount of money expended on the 7th alteration to the 1999 Constitution, the project was at the risk of being a waste as according to him, “we are faced with the potential of incalculable waste of public resources through the conspiracy of the Constitutional amendment impasse. This document is a product of the highest and most intimate consultations with Nigerians; indeed it is the Bill of the Nigerian people. All parties involved have a duty to allow or disallow this looming monumental waste of public funds and public opinion. For our part, we owe Nigerians a statement once again and I am confident that with the slimmest opportunity this House will make that statement.”
The most worrisome to the speaker was the inability of the House of pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) under his leadership. He said: “We shed tears of sadness because we did not rise swiftly to defeat the forces that stood ever so strongly against the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). We lament that our Electronic Voting System project could not be brought to fruition. I am confident, however, that with the amendment of the relevant House Rules, the successor Assembly would move swiftly to conclude the half done issues.” His sojourn Tambuwal began his active political career as Personal Assistant on Legislative Affairs to Senator Abdullahi Wali, the then Senate Leader. Incidentally, he defeated the same man in the April 11, 2015 gubernatorial election to become governor of Sokoto State. But being an enigmatic personality, he left the PDP, which his then boss (Wali) was a member and contested on the platform of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) to represent Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in the House.
Few months to the 2007 general elections, he defected to the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), alongside the former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa. But when the DPP denied former ANPP legislators return tickets, he returned to the ANPP, and got a ticket for the election. Later in 2007 when the ANPP governorship candidate for Sokoto State in the 2007 election, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, dumped the party for the PDP, Tambuwal also joined him. In his 12 years in the House, the immediate past speaker held different principal positions both in the minority and majority party at different times. His emergence as Speaker in June 2011 was the turning point in his fast rising political career, which also rubbished the zoning arrangement in the election of the Speaker. Tambuwal is also the first speaker of the House since 1999 to have successfully transited directly from the seat to another elective position.
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