The Tambuwal debacle

Should  Hon.Tambuwal vacate his seat?

It was with amusement that I saw pictures of our honourable house members scaling the wall breaching security to get into the house, at that juncture I took no sides knowing the antics PDP could use to get at the former speaker. 

I later watched the video and saw what I see on Lagos streets, supposed government officials and bullion vans feeling like they are above the law driving dangerously like other road users don’t exist.

The speaker vehicle drove dangerously towards the access control that had been going on well before they came and the police reacted to the threat as the mob attempted to storm the building by locking the gate. What they did would have gotten an ordinary citizen shot.

Tambuwal identified himself as the speaker and demanded to be let in. the police ignored his request.

Which brings us to the question, having jumped ship from PDP to APC, is his seat legally vacant as per the constitution or can he keep it? As at when he identified himself as the speaker was he the speaker?

I am not a lawyer talk less a constitutional one but the section of the constitution that shows the answer is clear.

Section 68 of the Nigerian constitution states

68 (1) A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if -

(a) He becomes a member of another legislative house.

(b) any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives, would cause him to be disqualified for election as a member;

(c) he ceases to be a citizen of Nigeria;

(d) he becomes President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or a Minister of the Government of the Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser.

(e) save as otherwise prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a member of a commission or other body established by this Constitution or by any other law.

(f) without just cause he is absent from meetings of the House of which he is a member for a period amounting in the aggregate to more than one-third of the total number of days during which the House meets in any one year;

(g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected;

Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored; or

(h) the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives receives a certificate under the hand of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission stating that the provisions of section 69 of this Constitution have been complied with in respect of the recall of that member.

(2) The President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, shall give effect to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, so however that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House concerned that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of that member.

(3) A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall be deemed to be absent without just cause from a meeting of the House of which he is a member, unless the person presiding certifies in writing that he is satisfied that the absence of the member from the meeting was for a just cause.

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Going by the above section of the constitution, Tambuwal remains the speaker of the house until sub section 2 is applied in which a member of the house will present evidence of Tambuwals defection and then his seat declared vacant.

Pro APC people argue that Tambuwal can keep his seat citing paragraph G of sub section 1 with emphasis on the word “faction”.

We are tempted to ask another question, is there a faction in PDP? But on closer examination of this clause, what actually affects PDP in Tambuwal defection is the word “division” The right question to ask is if there is a division in PDP.

The faction refers to when two parties merged as in what happened in ACN and Tambuwal was a member of one of the factions that merged into APC!

Let’s therefore define what a faction is first. According to Wikipedia and the the free dictionary

A political faction is a group of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a common political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. Members of factions band together as a way of achieving these goals and advancing their agenda and position within an organization.

Operation of factions

In political organizations that are democratic in structure, factions rely heavily on securing enough votes to win important ballots. This process is sometimes referred to as “doing the numbers”. Having the numbers will allow the faction to push policies it supports and elect its members to powerful positions within the broader organization.

If one faction develops within an organization, there will usually be at least one other that develops in opposition to it. Opposing factions will try to match each other's level of organization and internal discipline, but will also engage in negotiations and trade-offs to ensure that the organization’s activities are not compromised and that every group has a chance to obtain at least some of its goals.

Key to the operation of an organized faction is the existence of a power base. This will typically be some office, division or branch of the broader organization over which the faction has effective control. Sometimes a power base may be an external or affiliated organization that is involved with the broader organization in some way.

A power base serves several key functions:

• It acts as a recruitment center for new members, and promotes homogeneity within the membership (crucial for maintaining factional cohesion);
• It can be used as an organizing center for factional events and activities;
• It functions as a springboard, advancing the career of selected factional members and allowing them to gain skills that will increase their effectiveness and clout.

Effects of factions

The existence of a factional system can have serious negative consequences for a political organization. If factional strife becomes intensive and public, the organization may suffer from perceptions of disunity. Taken one step further, if the conflict is particularly severe, it may cause ruptures within the organization that seriously impede its effectiveness, leading to break-up or collapse of the organization.

To avoid harm to the organization, factional operations are usually conducted under strong secrecy and with minimal public scrutiny. This, however, can lead to the proliferation of unethical behavior. Warfare between the factions may lead to tactics such as ballot box-stuffing, stack-outs, membership fraud, and other generally fraudulent conduct. Individuals who abandon a faction may be subject to intense personal vendettas where their former comrades go about sabotaging their careers. A climate of intense factional conflict can also motivate individuals to focus on attacking their factional enemies rather than furthering the broader organization.

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When we look at the definition of faction and the context in which the word along with "division" and "merger" was used in the constitution, its glaring that it means if there is a spilt in that political party such that we have two PDPs or a merger between ACN and CPC and others that formed APC.

As at the time of Tambuwals defection, there was no division within the PDP thus the argument that he retains his seat becomes moot.

Him running to court to get a judgment maintaining the status quo until the determination of his suit is a time wasting tactics done in bad faith by both him and the APC.

Asking the courts to define what a faction is a cheap and dishonorable act by Tambuwal trying to eat his cake and have it. 
Adjourning the house first then declaring his defection is also another dishonorable act a premeditated move that reeks of bad faith. It means he clearly knew what would follow once he announced his defection (as per sub section 2) and prevented the right and lawful thing from being done.

I was told by some of my group friends that PDP should head to court and i said, The failure of men to be Honorable is what leads to court cases. Hiding behind the court to twist a well known law doesn't paint you as law abiding citizen, it makes you a dishonorable person. For a party shouting on the roof tops how dear they hold the country it simply shows they really dont care about the country but wresting power for themselves.

Ironically as I was writing this piece, information came that the same APC who wants Tambuwal keep his seat after defection wants the opposite to happen in Ekiti state after some house members defected to PDP! This paints APC as a party so selfish they are ready to create a constitutional crisis where there is none all in a desperate attempt to further plunge the nation into unnecessary tension.

http://www.osundefender.org/?p=196032

Shamefully, APC has no case because the Ekiti reps were sponsored by ACN which has now merged to form APC! (Sub section 1 paragraph (g) clearly applies  to them!) and they get to retain their seats. APC know it but derive absolute pleasure in wasting tax payers money and love justice being delayed.

Whatever the outcome of the court case as concerns Tambuwal, APC has secured a dirty win by delaying election into Tambuwal's slot either the court ruling is in their favour or not.

I however trust our learned judges who rule based not only on written English but with their conscience and broad understanding on life.

I write as a neutral person in this matter i am not a member of any political party at this moment and in the nearest future