Atiku, Secondus, Makarfi Decry Siege on Saraki, Ekweremadu’s Homes
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Uche Secondus and former National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, yesterday condemned security siege on the Abuja residences of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. Atiku in a statement by his Media Office called for a stop to the persecution of National Assembly leadership.
“The news of the siege on the residences of Saraki and Ekweremadu, is “both troubling and unsettling.’’ “No democratic nation ought to treat the leadership of its parliament like common criminals in the course of a political disagreement.
“I remind the powers-that-be that on August 31, 2013, when Saraki walked out of the PDP and began the process of joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), there was celebration in their camps.
“I also remind them that their electoral victory, which they have so badly mismanaged today, would not have been possible without the Senate President. “Power is transient and is also a trust that should only be used for the good and advancement of the people one leads and not for the persecution of real and imagined political opponents.”
Similarly, Secondus in a statement issued in Abuja, described the development as “attack on democracy, using state security apparatus’’.
He said that Department of State Services (DSS), army and the police had attacked the National Assembly with the aim of forcibly overthrowing its leadership and rendering it comatose.
“The Saraki, Ekweremadu and other distinguished senators are currently under severe assault from security agencies.
“It is now a known fact that democracy have now collapsed in Nigeria and we are now under a totalitarian and fascist government with no appetite for opposition,’’ Secondus said.
He called on all Nigerians, home and abroad, to immediately speak up against the act he described as “gross violation of the Constitution of Nigeria.’’ On his part, Makarfi in a statement in Kaduna, Makarfi said the siege on the residences of principal officers of the National Assembly, by detachments of the Nigerian Police Force, obviously to stop them from presiding over the day’s session, is condemnable.
Makarfi, according to his spokesman, Mukhtar Sirajo, described the action as “dangerous, primitive and one that constitutes a very serious threat to democracy in our country.”
He said: “It is a clear breach of one of the fundamental tenets of presidential democracy, which provides for separation of powers.
“It also constitutes a serious abuse of the fundamental human rights of the targeted individuals, both the presiding officers and the defectors respectively, because the right to associate is inalienable.
“Sadder still, is the fact that this impunity and crass disrespect to legality and constitutionality are being perpetrated under a government that is itself a beneficiary of respect for the rule of law by the then PDP government.”
CAN Cautions Presidency, Police over Threat to Democracy
Following the siege on the residences of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, by the Nigerian Police and other security agencies, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday cautioned the presidency and the police over threat to the nation’s democracy. CAN observed that the siege was completely at variance with democratic norms expected in a democracy.
CAN President, Rev. Supo Ayokunle, explained that “the leadership of the association has warned the presidency and the Nigeria Police not to do anything capable of threatening the survival of democracy in Nigeria. Speaking on the invasion, CAN warned “the presidency to desist from using the Nigeria Police to pull down democratic institutions built at a great price, which includes, but not limited to, loss of lives and imprisonment of many patriots in the past.
“We express grave concerns over the poor handling of police’s invitation to the Senate President, Saraki, over the infamous Offa robbery saga that led to the death of no fewer than 30 people. And the alleged plan by the EFCC to arrest Ekweremadu over alleged money laundry,” Ayokunle explained.
Ohanaeze Raises the Alarm over Ekweremadu’s Life
The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, has warned that nothing should happen to the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.
Nwodo said the álarm became necessary following some disturbing reports that operatives of the state besieged his house this morning for yet undisclosed motives. The Ohanaeze leader said while it would not begrudge the state for doing its statutory duty, it must be within the confines of rule of law more so that the nation is in a democracy.
“In a democratic setting as ours, we expect security agencies to be civil and work within the rule of the law without breaching the civil liberty of any individual. Nwodo said that Senator Ekweremadu being the highest Igbo in this government is much cherished by his people and is expected that he should be accorded all the respect deserving of his position. He recalled that another Igbo son Senator Enyinna Abaribe was incarcerated for three days without any tangible reason disclosed to Nigerians till date. “We will not want to be sentimental into believing that there are grand design to silent and humiliate Igbo leaders at the national level who are legitimately representing their people very well but whose stance on issues is not agreeable with the ruling authorities.”
South-east Youth Leader Condemns Siege on Ekweremadu’s Residence
South-east Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chidiebere Egwu, has condemned the siege on the official residence of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, by the security agencies yesterday morning.
The youth leader who spoke to THISDAY in Abakaliki, noted that the siege was a total humiliation and intimidation against the Igbo race by the presidency. Describing the act as a shame to democracy, the youth leader alleged that the siege was a threat to the life of the Deputy Senate president, warning that if anything happens to Ekweremadu, the Igbo race would hold the presidency responsible.
Egwu further called on the international community, civil societies and human rights activists to intervene and save Nigeria’s democracy from imminent collapse. He said: “The hostage of the Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremmadu, is a shame to our democracy. His hostage was a clampdown to Igbo race. We won’t tolerate the excesses of the Federal government again. Nothing should happen to our son. If Ekweremadu dies, we will die with him”.
“Our democracy has suffered major setbacks under the Buhari’s administration. The President has shown that he is incompetent to rule Nigeria. The travails of the deputy Senate president show that Buhari hates Ndigbo. Our security agencies have derailed in their constitution responsibilities. They are now political tools in the hands of the federal government to witch hunt perceived opponents.
Nigeria Heading to Anarchy under APC, Says Group A pro-democracy group, the Democratic Alliance for Good Governance (DAGG), has condemned in strong terms, yesterday’s siege on the residence of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, by the police and other security forces.
The group described the siege as a war on democracy and a direct attempt to muzzle opposition which may result into anarchy.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Coordinator, Usman Mohammed, the group said: “We strongly condemn the siege laid on the residence of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President and other principal officers of the National Assembly yesterday morning and we believe all lovers of democracy in the country and beyond would rise against this tyranny and impunity, which is nothing less than a colossal threat to sabotage democratic governance in Nigeria.
“The attempt to stop the Senate from holding its plenary over plans by some lawmakers to defect from the APC to the PDP is one of the tyrannical move of the APC-led government to gag opposition in the country and a direct attack on the lawmakers’ right to association.
“We wish to remind the president and his party the APC that they came to power as a result of unrestricted freedom they enjoyed while in opposition and healthy democracy which gives room for opposition.
“We however wish to warn that Nigeria is greater than President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the APC and they must desist from undemocratic practise that may plunge the nation into turmoil. We also call on all Nigerians to rise against this unprecedented impunity and tyranny of the APC-led federal government capable of destabilising the nation and its hard earned democracy.
Third Force Petitions International Community Over Impunity
Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) has said it is perturbed by the resort to panicky gestapo actions by the presidency, using security forces to prevent the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from attending to their constitutional legislative duties at the National Assembly.
As statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Nasser Kura, said the ruthless show of force rather than civil engagement being foisted on the leadership of the Nigerian parliament by its executive counterpart, is to say the least anti-democratic, highhanded and reckless and have the potential of truncating the life of Nigeria’s hard earned civil rule if caution is not quickly taken.
The group therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately caution his men in the security apparatchik of Nigeria, so as to avoid the breakdown of order and a breach of the country’s peace and stability.
APC will Only Survive If Buhari Steps down, Oshiomhole Resigns, Says Ex-OMATA President Former President General of Onitsha Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, OMATA, Chief Pius Ozoh Anekwe, yesterday said that harassment and intimidation of Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, would not save the All Progressives Congress (APC) from its imminent collapse.
Anaekwe however said what will rescue the party from its near collapse is for the party to beg President Muhammadu Buhari to step aside, and the newly elected National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, to resign because he would kill the party before 2019 general election. Reacting in Onitsha to the intimidation and harassment of the Senate president and his deputy by the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), Anekwe said that President Buhari has killed APC with his policies and style of administration, while Oshiomhole has come to bury the party. “APC died the day it removed its former National Chairman Chief John Oyegun following the party’s decision to obey the demands of Senator Tinubu to remove him.
Kwara Assembly Condemns Police Invasion at Senate President’s Residence
The Kwara State House of Assembly has called on Nigerians, credible civil society organisations and the international community to rise in unison for the protection of the nation’s democracy. This followed a motion of Urgent Public Importance, by the House Leader Hon. Hassan Oyeleke, titled: ‘Unsuccessful Terrorising of the National Assembly,’ by the nation’s security agencies.
The Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad, while reading the resolutions of the House on the motion, expressed displeasure that with the invasion, the nation’s hard won democracy was being threatened, pointing out that it was disheartening that the institution of police, was being misused for personal aggrandisement, by the power that be. The House according to him, then condemned in totality the impunity of the security agencies, by invading the National Assembly, the private residences of the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and some senators by the police.
Don’t Derail Nigeria’s Democracy, South-west PDP Urges Buhari
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-west yesterday urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to initiate actions against moves to derail democracy in Nigeria. The party in a statement by its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Ayo Fadaka, criticised the manner ‘despotic’ democracy under President Muhammadu Buhari was gaining ascendancy. It read: “The Police action taken again the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekeremadu clearly is an abuse of the fundamental human rights of the duo and also an abuse of power privileges.
“No excuse or reason can justify the prosecution of this cheap and pedestrian action; these gentlemen are no criminals that should be hounded by the police who should clearly devote their time squarely to ridding our nation of the many criminal elements that torture the citizenry daily.” According to the statement, the police invitation to Saraki was in furtherance of the petty attempt to rope him into the now famous Offa robbery, stressing that President Buhari and his handlers should know that irrespective of concoctions in this regard, the eminent and illustrious background of Saraki will never make them to stick.