TAMBUWAL APOLOGISES TO MARK OVER ASSAULT BY HOUSE MEMBER.
" Mark I' ve forgiven Cheche
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, on Friday
tendered an unreserved apology to Senate President, David Mark, over the
assault on him by a member of the House when he visited the lower
chamber on Thursday.
A statement by Senate President's Chief
Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said the speaker appealed to Mark to pardon
the misdeed of Abdul Malik Usman Cheche (PDP, Niger) who reportedly
held the Senate president by his shoulders, shaking him vehemently and
almost removed his cap when the latter visited the House chamber to calm
frayed nerves following the pandemonium that accompanied the invasion
of the National Assembly by security forces.
The invasion
followed attempts by the police to stop Tambuwal from gaining access to
the National Assembly as a result of his defection from Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) on October 28.
Earlier, Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, had apologised to
Mark over the unruly behaviour of Cheche, promising to discipline him
for assaulting the Senate president whom he described as a statesman and
former military governor of Niger State.
The statement which
quoted Mark as saying he had forgiven Cheche for his action, also
explained the reason for his visit to the House of Representatives'
chamber at the height of the pandemonium which engulfed the National
Assembly on Thursday.
According to the statement, Mark said he
visited the House "to ascertain the safety of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and
his colleagues having received reports that canisters of tear gas were
targeted at the lawmakers."
The statement added: "I also went to
confer with Mr. Speaker on the need to suspend plenary in both chambers
in order to restore sanity to an environment that had turned restive and
becoming uncontrollable. My intention was to safeguard the sanctity of
the hallowed chamber and to guarantee the respect of the legislature. I
consider the unwarranted and needless attack on my person by Hon.
Abdulmalik Usman Cheche as a price and sacrifice for leadership. It is a
sacrifice I am prepared to accept.
"I was physically stopped at
the gate and prevented from accessing the National Assembly complex for
about an hour. I was also tear gassed at the lobby of the White House as
I made my return from the Green Chamber. In all these, I bear no ill
feeling. AbdulMalik is my colleague. I have forgiven him.
I believe we can continue to work together in the interest of peace and sustenance of democracy.
"Like I have repeatedly said, I will do anything necessary to keep the
sanctity of the parliament as an institution and safeguard the respect
of every legislator. I therefore urge all political actors to always
remember that we must first have a nation before we can achieve our
various individual ambitions. We must at all times restrain ourselves
from actions that cannot add value to our hard earned democracy. We
should remain guided by the rules no matter how strongly we perceive our
positions to be the most appropriate," Mark said.
Source: #Thisday_News.
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