Reps Divided Over Motion To Check Mbu

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Lawmakers in the House of Representatives were divided along party lines on Tuesday, after a member of the House raised a motion, requesting that the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police in Lagos, Mr Joseph Mbu, be relieved of any role in the conduct of the 2015 general elections.

Aliyu Madaki’s motion entitled, ‘Violation of the constitution and Disrespect for the Rule of Law by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Mbu Joseph Mbu’, was hinged on the utterances and actions of Mbu, which he said contravened the constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.

Mbu was earlier reported to have said that “if any violent group attacks a law-abiding citizen in a bid to cause injury or cause harm, the police should repel and save that law-abiding citizen because we have the powers to do so. “If hoodlums or touts decide to be lawless, carrying knives and illegal firearms and shooting at my policemen; if they shoot at my policemen and they are a hundred or 200, my policemen will not be looking at them. They will reply in self-defence”.

Seeking the police high command’s disciplinary actions against Mbu for giving “such an unconstitutional order”, Mr Madaki said: “The house notes with regret the statement by Joseph Mbu, AIG, which was widely reported in national dailies and which amounted to a violation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

“Aware that the constitution guarantees immunity to state‎ governors and their deputies and therefore, no authority or person, including courts of law, has the right not to accord governors such privileges.

“Mbu allegedly directed all officers and men in his command to disregard any immunity being enjoyed by any governor, which action amounted to a violation of the constitution.

“The house is concerned about the statement allegedly made by Mbu that if one police officer is killed during the 2015 elections, between 20 to 100 citizens would be killed in return.”

Mr Madaki’s motion did not go down well with some members of the House who countered the motion.

Mr Linus Okorie challenged the motion on the grounds that‎ Mbu was unavailable to defend himself.

He had not finished his statement when another member of the House heckled him in disagreement with his opinion.

Exchange of words ensued, forcing the House members into a shouting bout.

The Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha‎, who presided over the sitting, tried to calm the situation by moving for a voice vote on the matter. But the voice votes were not clearly defined.

He subsequently dispatched the motion to the House committee on police affairs for investigation.