News Post

<p align="justify">Sitting of the Federal House of Representatives on Wednesday, 25 June, 2014 started with a motion of privileges under the House Standing Orders moved by Hon. Egbuefi Ozorbachi on the alleged harassment of the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, by security operatives who claimed they were acting on orders. The incident was alleged to have taken place at public function in Kaduna. He pointed out that the media has been awash with the purported attempt to ridicule the person and office of the Speaker.</p>
<p align="justify">
The mover of the motion stated that Nigeria is governed by Constitutional principles and in a democracy the legislature holds the sovereign will of the people. For him, if there is anything the international community still appreciate about Nigeria, it is the perception that for the past few years the nation has maintained democratic institutions and principles. He cautioned that everything should be done to that the legislature is not undermined by any government operatives. “To ridicule the office of the Honourable Speaker is a dent on our democracy” he added.</p>
<p align="justify">
Hon. Ozormbachi was convinced Mr. President and indeed heads of security agencies were not aware of what transpired. He said it could be easily attributed to over zealousness of the security personnel. The Speaker,  Rt. Hon. Tambuwal, interrupted deliberation on the matter and begged to brief the Reps on what really happened on that faithful day, but in a closed door session. After the briefing, relevant Committees of the House were mandated to investigate the matter and report back to the House in one week.
Before the commencement of proceedings, the Speaker gave his welcome address in which he urged his colleagues to be fully committed and to ensure due diligence in executing their legislative duties, especially now that the 2015 elections are approaching and serious politicking is almost becoming a distraction to make the lawmakers neglect their duties. He commended the security operatives for the unrelenting fight against terrorism in the North East region of the country, but noted that insurgency is yet to be tackled. </p>
<p align="justify">Rt. Hon. Tambuwal called on Nigerians to return to the drawing board of democratic practice, pointing out that the military has become an instrument of intimidation of ordinary law abiding citizens. “A situation where people’s right to free movement is breached by grounding airplanes, intimidation of media, conducting arrest and detention of innocent citizens including elected officials  is worrisome” he cautioned. </p>