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.