The Nigerian police has asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal to apply for police details if he needs them, Punch reports.
The police had said they would give Tambuwal and all other gubernatorial candidates nationwide police protection after the parties concluded their primary elections.
The Force Police Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, had stated, “The police will do the needful in protecting Alhaji Tambuwal and all other contestants.”
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Ojukwu has now clarified that statement saying there was no automatic protection for any candidate, as the police will only attend to an application from a candidate that desires police protection.
He said: “It is the duty of the police to provide protection for all aspirants but they have to apply to be given police operatives.
“We have enough work on our hands and we cannot be running after candidates who need our protection.
“All candidates must apply for police protection”.
Tambuwal responded to the police statement through his Special Adviser on Media, Alhaji Imam Imam who said:
“We don’t want to join issues with the police. There is a court order saying the status quo should be maintained, but they chose to violate the order” .
The Nation reports that the Federal High Court judge sitting in Abuja had ruled that the status quo ante bellum must be maintained in the matter. But the police still did not restore the speaker’s security.
The police had withdrawn Tambuwal’s security details soon after he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on October 28.
The police hinged their action on Section 68 (g)(1) of the 1999 Constitution, a provision that allows defection only on grounds of a division in a political party.
It will be recalled that Tambuwal emerged as the gubernatorial candidate for the APC in Sokoto state.
