The
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, on
Wednesday stopped a move by lawmakers to protest former President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s verbal attacks on members of the national and state
houses of assembly.
The Senate also challenged Obasanjo to
name the rogues and criminals among the lawmakers, saying a lot of
people had called for clarification on the former President’s comments.
Before Tambuwal’s intervention, fuming
Reps had taken exception to the former President’s chastisement with the
Deputy Minority Leader, Mr. Suleiman Kawu, already submitting that
“Obasanjo lacked the moral authority to call lawmakers rogues and armed
robbers.”
The ex-President on Tuesday at the
fourth Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies, Nigeria, annual national
conference in Lagos, said most members of the legislature in the country
are rogues and criminals.
Kawu had raised an order under matters of urgent public importance to table the ex-President’s attack on lawmakers on the floor.
Although Tambuwal initially obliged him, the Speaker quickly stopped Kawu when he started raining abuses on Obasanjo.
He accused Obasanjo of being without a
good reputation and that such a man had no “moral authority to call
lawmakers armed robbers, Mr. Speaker.”
But Tambuwal cut him short amid murmurs
from members and promptly referred the issue to the House Committee on
Ethics and Privileges for investigation.
The speaker reasoned that it would be
hasty to respond to the allegations in anger as none of the lawmakers
was present at the forum where the former President reportedly made the
allegations.
Tambuwal noted that the House should
avoid a situation where Obasanjo would deny having made the allegations
or that he was quoted out of context.
He explained that an investigation by
the committee would clarify any doubts on the matter, following which
the House could debate it and take a position.
The committee was given up to next week to submit its report.
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