The withdrawal of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives from the race for the ticket of the APC in the 2015 Presidential election is no longer news. The news is the unpleasant scene created by Tambuwal and his goons in an attempt to force their way into the National Assembly on Thursday.
Some of these touts called lawmakers jumped into the National Assembly like armed robbers. I can’t understand why Tambuwal and these law breakers have chosen to end the 7th House of Representatives in turmoil. He knows very well that minority parties in any parliament in the world do not produce Speakers.
Tambuwal would have made history had he chosen the path of honour by resigning as Speaker before decamping to the PDP. Then, he can contest in a fresh election. The action of Tambuwal and his guys on Thursday was despicable. The Speaker and his goons are a disgrace to this country.
The shameful action on Thursday is coming few days after Tambuwal made a disgusting attempt for the Presidential ticket of the APC; he was eventually forced to eat the humble pie. Many are still struggling to recover from the fact that Tambuwal even contemplated the idea at all.
Last week, some legislators who claimed to love him so much (surely, they are being economical with the truth) were in his house in Abuja to present him the required forms for the APC Presidential race which they bought on his behalf.
It is interesting that Tambuwal who defected to APC just few days back nursed a presidential ambition. What a tall ambition. Ambition should be backed with great stuff. The decision to perish his Presidential ambition is a wise one. Clearly, his youthful dexterity won’t get him anywhere in a Presidential race.
This piece is not meant to demean Tambuwal but to present with facts, that he is not the right man for the Presidency, at least for now. The Speaker is still largely a local politician with very little experience. The Presidency of Nigeria requires much more than this.
Apart from his guys in the House, his name does not ring a bell beyond Sokoto State. Tambuwal lacks national name recognition. He is definitely not in the class of Mohammadu Buhari or Atiku Abubakar. That aside, Tambuwal has no track record of having governed any entity other than the House. The only track record he has is inflicting unkind cuts while leaving a party.
Another factor that puts a big question mark on his perished ambition is the fact that he plays politics of convenience by switching from one party to the other. He has moved from the ANPP to PDP and now APC. Often, he uses this to get what he wants and not what the masses of the people want. There is nothing like ideology in Tambuwal’s political dictionary. Many see him as not credible. This country can as well do without politicians like this.
The opposition APC still rejoicing over Tambuwal’s defection will soon be disappointed. I am predicting that he would soon stab them on the back. I am an apostle of development politics. Tambuwal doesn’t fit into this. I think he is more interested in his stomach infrastructure.
His kinsmen in Tambuwal town (that rustic village) can testify to this. I don’t think they have really benefitted from his years in the House. The last time I was in Tambuwal town was about 23 years during my NYSC programme in Sokoto State and the town was largely rural.
On Thursday, I called a friend of mine based in Sokoto to do some checks if things had improved in Tambuwal and his response was to the contrary. Well, now that Speaker Tambuwal has chosen to fight for a gubernatorial ticket in Sokoto State, he would have to explain to his people what he had done for them during his years in the National Assembly.
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