Tambuwal set to join APC

Speculations evolved over the weekend that Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and some lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will defect on Tuesday when the House reconvenes.

37 lawmakers in the lower chamber have already joined the APC, giving the party a slight majority over the PDP.

Speaking with a national daily, a source said, ‘‘By Tuesday, the speaker will be gone from PDP. Arrangements have been concluded and he is leaving along with others to achieve a comfortable majority for the opposition APC. He has been consulting and now that he has finished consulting, he feels the time is now to make the move. Moreover, the opposition leaders have been putting pressure on him to cross over. The timing is especially urgent to frustrate the reconciliation efforts promised by the president following Tukur’s resignation on Thursday.’’

According to another lawmaker, it would be safer for Tambuwal to remain in the ruling PDP.

"I think his political future is safer with PDP than with APC. No matter the problems we are facing now, the party will resolve them and come out stronger. If it is true the speaker is set to defect, it will forever haunt him because nobody will ever trust him in Nigeria again. I think he is too smart not to see the danger to future political career because of immediate political gains," he said.

Reacting, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the party was unaware of the move.

“We are totally unaware of that and I doubt it. I think it is a rumour. He was with us at NEC last week and he was very relaxed and exchanged banter with everybody, including the president. So I don’t think he will do that. Don’t forget, he is a leader of the party and the party holds him in high esteem. The party has been good to him, so I don’t think he will do that. We are even expecting him at the NEC meeting tomorrow (Monday),” he said.

Should Tambuwal eventually defect as purported, there will be a major shake-up in the leadership of the House to reflect dominance of the APC.

Source: Legit.ng