A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and governorship aspirant in Kaduna State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, in Kaduna on Friday, alleged that the withdrawal of the security details of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, was a ploy by the Federal Government to eliminate him (Speaker).
El-Rufai, who accused President Goodluck Jonathan of orchestrating the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides, alleged that the Speaker was one of the targets of snipers being purportedly trained by agents of the government.
Speaking to journalists after picking his expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the Kaduna governorship election in 2015 yesterday, el-Rufai, who is presently Deputy National Secretary of the APC, maintained that Tambuwal was one of the targets of the killer squad.
“That was why the Inspector-General of Police, on the order of Jonathan, withdrew the Speaker security aides”, he added.
Warning that no harm must befall the Speaker, the governorship aspirant noted that it was irresponsible on the part of the Inspector-General of Police and the Federal Government to have withdrawn Tambuwal’s security details.
He explained that the withdrawal was done deliberately so as to pave the way for the “killer squad” to eliminate the Speaker for defecting to the APC.
According to el-Rufai, the removal of the Speaker’s security is part of the continuation of the Jonathan-led government’s penchant for impunity.
He, however, reminded the Jonathan government that impunity had limitations and called on the Nigerian government to learn from Burkina Faso when the people were fed up with the government.
El-Rufai said, “The withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides is on the order of the President Goodluck Jonathan. The IG doesn’t act that way. The president ordered the IG to order the removal; its just the continuation of the Jonathanian impunity.
“This people have no respect for the law. They have no respect for rules. They think they are in power to abuse their control of coercive instruments of power and we should warn them that impunity has limits. If anything happens to Tambuwal (Speaker), the whole world would hold them responsible.
“He (Speaker) was on the list of those to be taken out by snipers. So, if anything happens to him, we know that it was done intentionally so that this will succeed.
“They should look across Burkina Faso and see what is happening when a government overstays its welcome or engages in wanton impunity. They should learn from history. I think it is very irresponsible on the part of IG and the government to do that”.
The former minister also warned the police and other security agents to desist from being partisan ahead of the 2015 general elections, saying Nigerians were fed up with the current government of the Peoples Democratic Party.
