……. APC is running a government of official terrorism – PDP
…… We are cleaning the augean stable of the last PDP federal government – APC
The ongoing trial of Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki has opened up a new avenue for the leading political parties to have a go at each other.
The People’s Democratic Party have accused the All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari of becoming a fascist in government and running a government of official terrorism.
The opposition party, made the allegation while reacting to the attempt by the government to get the Senate President, Bukola Saraki prosecuted for alleged asset declaration violation.
According to a statement signed by Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, all that has been happening under the Buhari administration are “deliberate infractions and crass abuse of power” saying, “it is no longer in doubt that the nation is on a quick slide into fascism and official terrorism.”
Metuh stated “that the President Buhari-led regime has exhibited trappings of despotism, including “ruling without a constitutional component of a cabinet, persistent abuse of power, undermining of democratic institutions, invasion of state government and personal houses, injecting confusion into the judiciary and hounding of individuals perceived to be against its interests”.
The PDP expressed worry over the “relentless onslaught against democratic institutions, especially the growing tension trailing the quest to annex the National Assembly; for which the Presidency had since vowed not to recognize the current Senate leadership, in total disdain to the independence of the legislature and the principle of separation of powers”.
It further described as a mockery of reasoning, for Buhari to condemn the recent coup in Burkina Faso “whilst his government continues to violate the provisions of the constitution of his own country.”
The statement reads further; “Ordinarily, the intra-party squabbles within the APC, regarding leadership positions in the Senate is not necessarily our concern.
“Also, we are not interested in whether Senate President Bukola Saraki ran for the APC Presidential ticket against President Muhammadu Buhari; or whether he ran for the Senate Presidency against the advice of the President and his party.
“Our concerns here are the prevailing executive intolerance, the undermining of the institution of the National Assembly and the overall threat to the survival of our democracy.
“Whereas the PDP totally supports the fight against corruption, while reposing confidence in the judiciary to protect and preserve its sanctity, we note with grave concern, the politically induced controversies within the judiciary, as a result of the part being played by agents of the executive, especially the question of due process with respect to the roles statutorily vested on the person of an Attorney-General, who is yet to be appointed, regarding proceedings in the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
“We note this dangerous trend because the Presidency and the APC have not hidden their aversion to the election of Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively, even as the fact of various moves to oust them from office, including the recent unsubstantiated allegations of forgery and harassments by the federal controlled security agencies are in the public domain.
“We call on Nigerians to be aware that the fixation on the leadership of the National Assembly is part of a major step towards the appropriation of the federal legislature, so as to undermine its statutory role of checks and balances and set the stage for dictatorship in the land.
“Part of this script is to commence a major onslaught against federal lawmakers perceived to hold divergent views to those of the Presidency, irrespective of party affiliations, a situation that would ensure a subdued legislature.”
The alleged onslaught against perceived enemies, the PDP said, has been put together towards ensuring that the party is annihilated.
“Also, similar machineries have been activated for possible forceful takeover of PDP states, a plot which played out in the recent act of terrorism against democracy, in the invasion of Akwa-Ibom State Government House by the Department of State Services (DSS), under the direct instructions from the Presidency.
“We also recall July reprehensible invasion and sealing of Rivers local councils by the Police, who also barred members of caretaker committees that were duly appointed by the state government to take charge of the councils.
“The erosion of personal freedom of citizen also came to public glare in the invasion of the home of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, against constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and the rule of law.
“Furthermore, Nigerians are witnesses to the undue interferences of the Department of State Services in the activities of election tribunals in PDP-controlled states of Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Abia, Taraba and others where electoral officers are being harassed, intimidated and detained, ostensibly to influence judgments against the PDP.
“We recall the show of intolerance in the venom and disparagement with which the APC-led administration in August, attacked our highly revered national leaders in the National Peace Committee, which has as members, former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, respected clerics; Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kuka, retired justices of superior records, as well as other highly respected patriotic Nigerians, for daring to counsel Buhari’s government on some observed undemocratic tendencies and processes.
However, in an expected fashion, the APC replied accusing the PDP of openly launching a counter-offensive against the determined efforts of the Buhari Administration to rid the country of impunity and corruption, but warned that the opposition party will fail in its attempt to take Nigerians back to Egypt.
‘’Saturday’s Press Statement by the PDP is nothing but a thinly-veiled frontal assault on the relentless efforts of the Buhari Administration’s to clean the Augean Stable of the last PDP Federal Government,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
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