Tambuwal defects to APC, picks card Tuesday

 

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, speaker of the house of representatives,
has finally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
TheCable was reliably informed that he will be issued his APC
membership card on Tuesday morning at his ward in Tambuwal,
his hometown, before he heads for Abuja for the plenary of the
house same day.
The defection took place on Monday in his home state, Sokoto, with
the speaker officially attending the APC stakeholders’ meeting.
Also at the meeting were Aliyu Wamakko, governor of Sokoto state,
and Inuwa Abdulkadir, former minister of youth development.
Some members of the house of reps are expected to defect along
with him from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
When contacted, his spokesman, Imam Imam, told TheCable on
phone that “it was a stakeholders meeting”, citing the attendance of
former finance minister, Alhaji Alhaji, as an indication that it was
not partisan.
“Tambuwal has always attended APC stakeholders meetings,” he
said.
He later issued a statement saying “consultations continue” on the
future of the speaker.
The full text of his statement: “Due to various media inquiries about
the purported defection of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, we wish to state
the following:
“That today, Monday, 20/10/2014, the Chairman of the Board of
Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony
Anenih, led other members of the party to a reconciliation meeting
in Sokoto but the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a
member of the NEC of the PDP, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
CFR, was not invited to the meeting.
“That Rt. Hon Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was later invited by
His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu
Magatakarda Wamakko, to attend the meeting of their political
family to discuss the political future of Sokoto State.
“That the Speaker, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, duly obliged
and attended the meeting.
“That the meeting had in attendance prominent Sokoto citizens
many of who have no known political affiliation. The most notable
been the Sardauna of Sokoto and former Minister of Finance, Alhaji
Abubakar Alhaji.
“That consultations on the Speaker’s political future continue and
the outcome will be made public at the appropriate time.”
However, TheCable can report that after the meeting, Tambuwal
headed for his hometown to register as a ward member of the
opposition party.
He is not expected to make an official announcement of his
defection on the floor of the house on Tuesday, contrary to our
earlier report.
Meanwhile, it was agreed at the meeting that all candidates of the
party for the 2015 elections will be adopted by consensus.
It is speculated that Tambuwal will now go for governorship in
Sokoto instead of the presidential ticket of APC.

Source: www.thecable.ng