Since May 30, 2011, Alh. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Jigawa State has been facing untoward infringement and harassment at the instance of Alh. Sule Lamido, Jigawa State Governor. This was all on account of Alh. Fulata’s petition filed on May 30, 2011 at the Election Tribunal challenging the election of Alh. Sule Lamido.
Immediately following the petition, on June 9, 2011, Alh. Fulata was physically attacked with sticks and machetes at the premises of the Tribunal by PDP thugs. This was reported to the police by Alh. Fulata himself but till today no action was taken by the Nigerian Police.
On June 26, 2011, two days after the Election Tribunal ruled in favour of Alh. Lamido, Alh. Fulata was arrested and detained by the police and later charged to court for defamation of Alh. Lamido’s character. He was remanded in prison for eight (8) days and granted bail. While on bail, he had to go underground to avoid Alh. Lamido’s thugs.
Alh. Fulata’s freedom and personal safety is now at great risk. There are reports that his wife, who is a staff of Jigawa State Government was evicted from her official quarters. It is clear the source of the risk is Alh.
Fulata’s courage to serve the party and contest the repressive and undemocratic behavior and conduct of Alh. Sule Lamido’s PDP government in Jigawa State. Unfortunately, up to this moment, more than 15 months since the launch of political persecution by Alh. Sule Lamido, there doesn’t appear to be any significant intervention by our party, ACN, to defend and protect Alh. Fulata.
I am therefore sending this letter to you and through you to our party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Council (NEC) scheduled to meet this week Wednesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 13. I want to call on the party organs to send clear political signal that an injury to a member is a threat to all members of the Party by aggressively marshaling all party support in defense of Fulata. This is necessary in order to give confidence to our members in Jigawa, by extension all parts of the North and encourage others to join the party. AS A PARTY THAT IS COMMITTED TO DEFEATING PDP IN 2015, ANY DELAY IS DANGEROUS!
The party should publicly call for:
1. Immediate halt to the current political persecution of Abubakar
Hassan Fulata by the Jigawa State Governor, Alh. Sule Lamido.
2. Affirmation of the rights of citizens to freely express themselves
and espouse independent political beliefs consistent with Chapter IV of the
1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended.
To give practical effects to these demands, our party needs to launch an effective media campaign in defense of the personal liberty of Alh. Fulata.
In addition, we need to mobilize all our party members and leaders in defense of our Jigawa State Chairman, Alh. Abubakar Hassan Fulata. A – STOP POLITICAL PERSECUTION OF FULATA – Rally in Dutse should be considered by the party.
Our political leaders from the North holding party positions at all levels must serve as sources of inspirations for this demands. It is unacceptable that some of our party’s leaders from the North will be publically fratenising with Alh. Lamido at a time when Alh. Lamido is persecuting our State Chairman.
Politics is about interests and at this critical point when as Northerners we need to project a strong determination to defeat PDP in 2015 and drive the process of economic development of the North, we must prevail on the party machinery and leaders to be the arrowhead for the struggle for human dignity and respect for the rights of all Nigerians. In this era when many opposition politicians are on the payroll of PDP governments, we must take measures to develop credible leadership for the party in the North. Alh.
Fulata’s matter is one that should therefore not be taken lightly. To take it lightly will just reduce to joke any effort to mobilize members into the party and work to defeat the PDP in 2015.
The party MUST setup a high powered team of lawyers and send them to Jigawa to defend Fulata. These are actions that will in fundamental ways bolster the image of the party in the North and strengthen our initiatives under the ACN Northern Group to embark on aggressive mobilisational drive and recruit members into the party in North.
As a loyal party member, I look forward to concrete decisions and greater resolve on the part of the party to provide selfless and exemplary leadership for struggle ahead. We must show resolute determination to combat any manifestation of old repressive strategies. If our founding fathers under the leadership of Mallam Aminu Kano can survive the crude NPC repressive attacks of First Republic, WE CAN OVERCOME OUR MODERN DESPOTS REPRESENTED BY LAMIDOS!