Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has condemned the recent invasion and sealing-off of the Abuja and Sokoto residences of the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) by men of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Governor said; “persecution of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts and others perceived as opposed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government is an ominous sign of imminent return of dictatorship and draconian rule in Nigeria”.
Fayose, who said he still believed that the invasion of Dasuki’s homes may not have the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, said; “if this is being done by some people to please the president, he should check the excesses of those behind it and call them to other because overzealousness by those that are close to the president is inimical to the image of the government”.
A statement issued in Ado-Ekiti by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka on Friday, Governor Fayose said he was sad that democracy is already being put on trial, less than two months that President Buhari assumed office, adding that; “Rather than invading homes of Nigerians and putting people under house arrest, the government should invade Boko Haram territories and arrest the insurgents”.
Fayose, who also condemned the persecution of Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said; “the desperate plot to remove Senator Ekweremadu from office is dangerous to democratic rule in Nigeria because there is no portion of the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution that made positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President the exclusive rights of the political party with highest number of senators”.
He said; “President Buhari should rather keep Boko Haram under house arrest, not opposition party members. Those heavily armed security men that invaded Col. Dasuki’s Abuja and Sokoto homes should have been put to a better use by sending them to the Boko Haram ravaged North Eastern part of Nigeria.
“The president should keep the rising exchange rates of Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro and other foreign currencies under house arrest. He should pay attention to governance, be guided by the rule of law and be for everyone and for nobody as he promised when he was sworn into office”.
While urging President Buhari to be magnanimous in victory by acting like a leader and father of all Nigerians, Fayose advised him against seeing his return to power as an opportunity to extract his pound of flesh from those perceived to have wronged him in the past.
The governor asked; “Was there any invitation by the DSS to Col. Dasuki that he refused to honour? Isn’t it worrisome that in this democratic age, security agents could in a commando-like invade the house of a former NSA to carry out his arrest when there is no record that he was invited and he refused to honour the invitation, or that he resisted arrest?
“Could Col. Dasuki’s present ordeal be as a result of his advice that the presidential election be postponed?[informationng]
“Is this not an indication of an impending clampdown on PDP members and other Nigerians perceived not to be on the same page with the President Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government?
“We in the PDP supported our party during the presidential election like every other loyal party members should do, should this display of support for our party and its candidate now warrant persecution by the Federal Government?
“If Col. Dasuki actually committed any offence to warrant his arrest and questioning by the DSS or any of the country’s security agencies, shouldn’t warrant of arrest have been issued against him? Shouldn’t he have been invited by the DSS instead of invading his houses and sealing them off in a commando-liked manner?
“Nigerians must therefore rise against this emerging dictatorship and save the country’s democracy from imminent collapse because today, it is Col. Dasuki, tomorrow it can be any other person”.
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