The Acting Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba said he is the one that ordered the withdrawal of the security men from the Speaker. In a statement signed by Emmanuel Ojukwu, Force spokesperson, last week the police boss said the action followed the defection of the Speaker.

The full statement reads: “In view of the recent defection by the Right Honourable Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal, CFR, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and having regard to the clear provision of Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has redeployed its personnel attached to his office.”

•Mulikat Akande-Adeola: Led other principal officers of the House to the Presidency to strategise on how to tackle the Tambuwal upset

Critics, however challenged Abba to tell Nigerians where he derived his powers to interpret the constitution from, especially concerning a matter which is already in court.

Tambuwal’s action actually caused a stir within PDP and the Presidency. And his new party gave him a rousing welcome last Wednesday, a day after his formal defection, at the extraordinary mini national convention of the APC in Abuja. He was accompanied to the convention by 160 of his APC colleagues. Constitutional lawyers argued that as the Speaker of the House of Reps and the number four citizen of the country, he is entitled to a round the clock security comprising men from the Police, Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Security, DSS.

TheNEWS learnt that stripping the Speaker of every form of protection is the first in the series of strategies adopted by the PDP juggernauts at the Villa meeting.

Sources also said the PDP plots to deal Tambuwal some legal blows aimed at knocking him off the Speaker’s seat and upsetting his gubernatorial ambition in Sokoto State.

The meeting last Wednesday was only the latest in a series that had been held since the Speaker upset the party’s zoning formula in 2011.

Only recently, a similar one was held following speculation on an alleged plan by Tambuwal to contest the 2015 Presidential election. Series of measures aimed at extinguishing the potential challenge were put on the table for consideration.

Tambuwal had jolted the PDP following the release of election guidelines by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, when he made a remark to the effect that Nigeria deserves a better leadership in 2015. The President and his handlers went into overdrive churning out strategies for checkmating him before things got completely awry for the ruling party.

However, the Tambuwal’s broad-based support in the House, which defies political affiliation of the membership, has enabled him to survive several plots by forces – suspected to enjoy the backing of the Presidency and the PDP – to remove him from office.

In the aftermath of the Farouk Lawan bribery scandal which rocked the House of Representatives two years ago, some members, allegedly backed by external forces, attempted to link Tambuwal to the scandal. But the move collapsed following a vote of confidence passed on the Speaker by members of the House.