Impeachment Tale: Reps Deny ‘Planting’ Media Report

The House of Representatives has denied ‘planting’ in the media reports of an imminent plot to impeach its Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal following an alleged multibillion naira car scandal involving 400 Toyota Camry cars purchased last year for House members.

Also, the House stated that there was no plan to investigate the reported impeachment plot as there was no substance to it in the first place.

“Investigating the matter will be tantamount to going on a wild goose chase,” House spokesman, Zakari Mohammed, told newsmen at yesterday’s scheduled briefing on the House’s state of affairs.

Mohammed again alluded to external machination in the current impeachment saga, a position previously echoed by Tambuwal on Wednesday.

“We are used to a tradition of changing batons over and over (Speaker impeachments). Now we say let’s depart from this usual way that people have known the Green Chambers for, and have some stability in leadership. Some people have not woken up to the reality that we are bounded by one destiny here as members of the House.

“To be or not to be a leader of the House of Reps can only be determined by the 360 members, and no matter the interest or the passions of whoever is on the outside, they cannot effect a change no matter how powerful,” he said.

On Wednesday, Tambuwal’s loyalists in the House undid a reported impeachment move by passing a vote of confidence on him.
A group of lawmakers, under the aegis of Transparency Network, was reported to be working on raising evidence of a scandal against Tambuwal in the purchase cars, fuelling media reports of a likely impeachment.

The aggrieved lawmakers allegedly questioned the purchases made early in 2012 in a purportedly shady contract, seeking names of the contractors and the costs.
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