The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee has called
\nfor the unconditional release of the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule
\nLamido, and other political detainees in government custody.<\/p>\n
The PDP made the call in a statement issued by Dayo Adeyeye, the national
\npublicity secretary of the committee on Monday.<\/p>\n
The party said its attention has been once again drawn to \u201cunwarranted
\narrest and detention\u201d of Lamido by men of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF)
\nin Kano State.<\/p>\n
Mr. Adeyeye described the arrest of Mr. Lamido as \u201coutrageous and
\nanti-democratic\u201d and not based on the frivolous allegation of \u201cinciting
\nthe public\u201d leveled against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe true reason for his arrest, however, has to do with the forthcoming
\nLocal Government elections in Jigawa State,\u201d the party said.
\nThe arrest of former Governor Gabriel Suswan of Benue, according to the
\nparty, was also linked to the forthcoming Local Government elections in
\nthe state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are therefore calling on the security agencies in the country to
\nrelease unconditionally, Lamido, Suswam, former Governor of Niger State,
\nDr Babangida Aliyu, and all other political detainees in their custody,\u201d
\nthe party stated.<\/p>\n
Mr. Adeyeye added that PDP was also aware that members of the opposition
\nwould be in for a hard time in the run-up to the 2019 general elections
\nwith more arrests and intimidation of their prominent leaders.<\/p>\n
He added that Mr. Lamido merely asked the people to defend their votes
\nagainst rigging, saying \u201chow is that a crime?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are not planning to steal the peoples\u2019 votes, why should you be
\nafraid if the people are advised to defend their votes?<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, no thief would want the owner to guard his house against
\nburglary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PDP recalled that prior to 2015 general election there were inciting
\nstatement credited to some members of the then opposition party and no
\narrest was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not a sign of weakness by the PDP led Government. It was in
\ndeference to freedom of speech, democracy and peace,\u201d the party said.
\nThe party accused members of the ruling party of being the ones
\ninstigating the lawlessness in Kogi, Niger, Benue and now Jigawa State.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this ugly trend is not stopped forthwith, it may lead to breach of
\npeace and public disorder,\u201d the party warned.
\n(NAN)<\/p>\n
Activists Urge Buhari To Proceed on Medical Leave<\/p>\n
Leaders of various human rights bodies in Nigeria have called on the
\nPresident to take a medical leave to enable him attend to his health,
\nimmediately.<\/p>\n
These rights activists include Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi
\nFalana; the Executive Director, SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni; Director, Centre
\nfor Democracy and Development, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim; Executive
\nChairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran; and Country Director, Search for Common
\nGround, Chom Bagu.<\/p>\n
They made the call in a joint statement issued on Monday, amid growing
\nconcerns about the President\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery
\nof President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of
\nhis personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without
\nany further delay,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
Those who signed the statement include the Executive Director, SERAP,
\nAdetokunbo Mumuni; Director, Centre for Democracy and Development,
\nProfessor Jibrin Ibrahim; and Country Director, Search for Common Ground,
\nChom Bagu, as well as Executive Chairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran;<\/p>\n
They explained that their call was based on the observation that since the
\nPresident returned from his medical vacation in the UK and despite
\nrepeated claims by government officials that there was no cause for alarm
\nover his health, the President doesn\u2019t seem to have fully recovered.<\/p>\n
Recalling that President Buhari, upon his return, had said he had never
\nbeen so sick in his life and that he might go back for further treatment,
\nthey suggested that comments by the likes of Kaduna State Governor Nasir
\nEl-Rufai could not be ignored.<\/p>\n
The statement read in part, \u201cA few weeks ago, the Governor of Kaduna
\nState, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to
\nrecover from his sickness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plea was made after the Governor had visited and presumably assessed
\nthe state of the President at the presidential villa in Abuja.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, due to the apparent deterioration in the President\u2019s health
\ncondition, he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor
\nattended the last two meetings of the Federal Executive Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further
\nspeculations and rumours on President Buhari\u2019s medical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
They added, \u201cBut instead of embarking on regular briefing on the actual
\nstate of the health of President Buhari, officials of the federal
\ngovernment have continued to assure the Nigerian people that the is no
\nneed for apprehension over the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee has called for the unconditional release of the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and other political detainees in government custody.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n