Former Vice President,
Atiku Abubakar has slammed the crude methods the Jonathan administration is
using to harass and humiliate perceived political enemies.
Reacting to the incident at the National Assembly on Thursday
when heavily armed security operatives prevented Speaker Aminu Tambuwal from
gaining access to the House to preside over the deliberation on the extension
of emergency rule in the North-East, the former Vice
President said in a statement by his media office that the “siege mentality” of
the Jonathan administration poses grave threats to Nigeria’s democracy, the
rule of law and the separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution
as amended.
"Obviously, the emergency rule has
failed to stem the unrest. The Federal Government must work with, rather than
against those who understand and have been elected by the people to
govern," Atiku counselled.
According to Atiku, this
crude display of power by the President and his agents portends ominous signals
for the future of our democracy, which is not a surprise as President Jonathan
did not participate in the costly struggle that brought our present democracy
into being.
He said the behaviour of
the PDP-led government towards Tambuwal was not decent and acceptable under a
president that has committed himself to uphold the rule of law. "This
crisis highlights the absolute failure of the current PDP's idea of government:
arrogant, indifferent and incompetent," Atiku asserted.
The former Vice President
regretted that abuse of power by using state agents to harass, intimidate and
humiliate perceived opponents by the President was not only capable of heating
the polity on frightening scale, but also carried the risks of polarizing and
politicizing security operatives in the country.
He reminded the President
that he was elected to uphold the Constitution of the country, and not to use
power arbitrarily against political opponents.
The former Vice President
advised President Jonathan to practice what he preaches by not heating up the
polity, an accusation he always directs at opposition politicians.
"What is happening at
the National Assembly taken together with what unfolded today (Thursday) at the
Ekiti House of Assembly is totally strange. It is not the democracy we fought
for; for which many of our compatriots paid for with their lives. These
free-riders should not be allowed to destroy what others built with their sweat
and blood.
"It is not too late,
however, for President Jonathan to pull the plug on these assaults to our
democracy because it is inconceivable that the show of shame at the National
Assembly is what he wanted as a birthday present," Atiku said.
Signed:
Atiku Media Office
61 Ebitu Ukiwe Street
Jabi
Abuja
Nigeria.
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