The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday has said that to have quality governance in the country, politicians seeking elective posts should be made to under go psychiatric tests.
This was contained in a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed while reacting to allegations levelled against the Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr.Ayodele Fayose.
Mr Fayose has been accused by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola of leading thugs to beat Justice Adeyeye of a state High Court on September 25.
According to the statement by its National Publicity Secretary, “The attack on judges in Ekiti has also reinforced the call in some quarters, on the basis of constitutional provisions, to subject candidates seeking political offices in the country to psychiatric tests, to prevent people with mental imbalance from taking over the affairs of state.”
It added, ‘’We do not want buffoons who have found themselves in power to take us to those days of buffoonery, days of anarchy as witnessed in Uganda and elsewhere.”
The APC further stated that the police had enough reason to arrest the governor-elect since the Chief Judge had confirmed in a petition to the National Judicial Council that Fayose was culpable.
The party said Fayose going unpunished was tantamount to saying that the judiciary was no longer a revered arm of government.
It, therefore, called on security agencies in the state to immediately arrest Fayose who presently does not enjoy immunity since he has not yet been sworn-in
The statement read in part, ‘’Now that the Chief Judge of Ekiti has confirmed, in a petition to the NJC that Fayose was complicit in the attack, the NJC should treat the issue expeditiously by taking a decisive action that will make it very costly for anyone to ever attack a judge again. The need to act is urgent so that no judge gets killed simply because some powerful personality does not like his or her ruling.
“Had the relevant authorities acted with dispatch when another court in the same state was invaded by pro-Fayose thugs earlier the same week, the attack on Justice Adeyeye would have been averted.”
The APC also called on the Inspector General of Police to sanction the policemen who stood idly by as thugs were attacking judges, lawyers, litigants and others, saying the police must always carry out its constitutional duties no matter which politician is flouting the law.
Fayose had, however, denied complicity in the attack against the judge, stressing that the allegation was false.
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