Following the IG’s withdrawal of his security details, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, who recently defected to the APC from
the PDP has criticized the action; describing it as having no basis in the 1999
constitution of Nigeria.
“We are on authority that nothing in the 1999 Constitution
nor the Police Act confers on the police force adjudicatory powers including
the interpretation of the constitution.
“In any case even Section 215 of the 1999 Constitution does
not contemplate the issuing of or compliance with unlawful orders by the
President and or the the Inspector General of Police respectively.
“What the Acting Inspector-General of Police has done
therefore has no basis in law including the 1999 Constitution which he has
cited. It is a brazen act of crass impunity, gross constitutional breach and
contempt of court. The Inspector-General should desist from assuming or
usurping the constitutional functions of the Judiciary,” the office said in a
statement by Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Imam Imam.
The Speaker through the statement noted that the judiciary
had long interpreted the section the IG quoted and concluded through two court
cases that there were indeed divisions and factions in the Peoples’ Democratic
Party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the question of whether or not
there is a division or faction in the PDP has been resolved by Lord Justice
Faji of the Ilorin Division of Federal High Court in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/605/2013,
in which the court held that indeed there were factions in the PDP.
“Again, in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/ 605/2013, the Sokoto Division
of the Federal High Court per Justice Aikawa, the judgment of the court was
that there was not only division but faction in the PDP, which later merged
with the APC,” the statement added.
The Speaker said the IG’s action was not only contemptuous
of the courts, but also “a ploy to bring harm to the person of Rt. Hon. Aminu
Waziri Tambuwal.”
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