<\/p>\n
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has slammed the crude methods the
\nJonathan administration is using to harass and humiliate perceived
\npolitical enemies.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the incident at the National Assembly on Thursday when heavily
\narmed security operatives prevented Speaker Aminu Tambuwal from gaining
\naccess to the House to preside over the deliberation on the extension of
\nemergency rule in the North-East, the former Vice President said in a
\nstatement by his media office that the \u201csiege mentality\u201d of the Jonathan
\nadministration poses grave threats to Nigeria\u2019s democracy, the rule of law
\nand the separation of powers as enshrined in the 1999 constitution as
\namended.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, the emergency rule has failed to stem the unrest. The Federal
\nGovernment must work with, rather than against those who understand and
\nhave been elected by the people to govern,” Atiku counselled.<\/p>\n
According to Atiku, this crude display of power by the President and his
\nagents portends ominous signals for the future of our democracy, which is
\nnot a surprise as President Jonathan did not participate in the costly
\nstruggle that brought our present democracy into being.<\/p>\n
He said the behaviour of the PDP-led government towards Tambuwal was not
\ndecent and acceptable under a president that has committed himself to
\nuphold the rule of law. “This crisis highlights the absolute failure of
\nthe current PDP’s idea of government: arrogant, indifferent and
\nincompetent,” Atiku asserted.<\/p>\n
The former Vice President regretted that abuse of power by using state
\nagents to harass, intimidate and humiliate perceived opponents by the
\nPresident was not only capable of heating the polity on frightening scale,
\nbut also carried the risks of polarizing and politicizing security
\noperatives in the country.<\/p>\n
He reminded the President that he was elected to uphold the Constitution
\nof the country, and not to use power arbitrarily against political
\nopponents.<\/p>\n
The former Vice President advised President Jonathan to practice what he
\npreaches by not heating up the polity, an accusation he always directs at
\nopposition politicians.<\/p>\n
“What is happening at the National Assembly taken together with what
\nunfolded today (Thursday) at the Ekiti House of Assembly is totally
\nstrange. It is not the democracy we fought for; for which many of our
\ncompatriots paid for with their lives. These free-riders should not be
\nallowed to destroy what others built with their sweat and blood.<\/p>\n
“It is not too late, however, for President Jonathan to pull the plug on
\nthese assaults to our democracy because it is inconceivable that the show
\nof shame at the National Assembly is what he wanted as a birthday
\npresent,” Atiku said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n