Tension in House of Reps as Jonathan’s loyalists list peace terms for Tambuwal

Trouble appears imminent in the House of Representatives, as members get set to resume from vacation tomorrow.
The bone of contention is that the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, must support President Goodluck Jonathan wholeheartedly or be ready to give way for a core loyalist to take over the proceedings of the House.
The Presidency and Tambuwal have not been on the same page since he was accused of romancing with the opposition when he granted audience to the breakaway faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by Abubakar Baraje, last month.
Although supporters of the President in the House moved against what many saw as ‘an open’ endorsement of the group by the Speaker, there are allegations that a major plot is being hatched to remove Tambuwal from the exalted post.
Worried by the sharp division in the House arising from the Baraje and G7 governors’ visit and the controversy generated, Tambuwal is said to have set up a ‘small peace committee’ to pacify aggrieved members and restore confidence in the leadership.
However, a source close to the peace committee told Vanguard that members had been more divided than before as a result of differences among those loyal to Tambuwal and the President.
It was learnt that when the two groups met to make peace, the pro-Jonathan lawmakers shocked Tambuwal’s loyalists by coming up with three stringent conditions, which the Tambuwal group rejected.
The anti-Tambuwal lawmakers in the House are reported to have asked Tambuwal to allow for an independent auditing of the amount of money so far released to him since he took over as Speaker in 2011.
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