PDP ‘mad’ at Deputy Speaker for privately hosting Tambuwal

CREDITS: DAILYPOST

There are ongoing reports that President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) are unhappy with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, for privately hosting Speaker- Aminu Tambuwal barely 24 hours after the Speaker defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday.

Tambuwal was said to have been received at the Deputy Speaker’s guest house on Pope John Paul Street, off Gana Street, Maitama, Abuja, few hours after he joined some members of APC in the House to attend the mini-national convention of the APC. The visit to Ihedioha’s home, which was initially intended to be a private one for Tambuwal, was later stormed by other members of the lower chamber, including some PDP members,.

A presidential aide yesterday told LEADERSHIP that the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, had been asked to explain which master he was elected to serve “because we cannot understand why he chose to host Speaker- Aminu Tambuwal to a warm reception a few hours after he defected from our party to APC.

“Is the deputy speaker with us or he is planning to move to the APC with his boss? The PDP deserves an answer from him.’’

Continuing, the informed source noted: “You know this man (referring to Ihedioha) cannot be trusted; he has consistently worked against the party in the past. He now appears to be working for the PDP because of his 2015 political interest. But even at that, we do not know where he truly belongs.”

According to the presidential aide, President Jonathan wanted to be very clear on whose side the deputy speaker belonged at this ‘critical moment of political decision.’

In their reaction, while Ihedioha dismissed the report as ‘not sensible’, the Media Adviser to Tambuwal, Malam Imam Imam, called for all clarifications on the issue to be referred to Ihedioha’s aides.

When contacted, the Chief Press secretary to the Deputy Speaker, Oke Epia, described the report as inconsequential, saying “this is a non-issue; are those behind this saying the Deputy Speaker would want to do that to show that he is in APC? I can tell you that this is not a sensible thing at all.” 

 ...DailyPost