Tambuwal attends APC meeting, insists he’s still member of PDP

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday made a strategic political move that may signal the end of his hide-and-seek poitical game as to where his allegiance truly is, by attending the meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC).
The speaker has for long kept a barely-veiled allegiance to the opposition political party which is the main rival of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under which umbrella the speaker was elected.
Associates of the speaker said his presence at the meeting, Monday, may herald his official defection from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Tambuwal has close political fraternity with key leaders of the opposition party and had often made statements that served the position of the opposition.
A source at Monday meeting said Tambuwal officially declared his membership of the APC, though his edia aide denies it.
According to the source, he told the meeting that he should be accepted as “one of you starting from today”.
However his media aide, Imam Imam, debunked the declaration reports, saying that Tambuwal attended the meeting of the Sokoto political family to “discuss the political future of Sokoto State, on the invitation of the state governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko.”
According to Imam in a statement on Monday night, the meeting was attended by prominent Sokoto citizens, many of whom haveno known political affiliation, the most notable being the Sardauna of Sokoto and former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji.
The media aide added that the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, led other members of the party on a reconciliation meeting to Sokoto, but the speaker and member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of PDP, Tambuwal, was not invited.
“Consutations on the Speaker’s political future continues and the outcome will be made public at the appropriate time,” Imam added.
The APC spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “I am also just reading the story and would respond appropriately during the week.”
It was learnt that the key PDP leaders met well into Monday night in apparent attempt to react appropriately to the alleged speaker’s move.