Saraki, Ekweremadu should not be treated as criminals – Makarfi reacts to police invasion

Former Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi has condemned the siege laid by the police on the residences of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

Makarfi in a statement signed by his media aide, Murktar Sirajo, described the latest invasion as a breach of the tenets of presidential democracy.

He cautioned that the nation’s parliamentarians should not be treated like common criminals because of their political difference.

The statement reads: “Nigerians woke up again this morning to the rather very sad and disturbing incidences of the siege on the residences of Principal Officers of the National Assembly, by detachments of the Nigerian Police Force, obviously to stop them from presiding over the day’s session, which eventually witnessed the defection of some Senators from the ruling party.

“Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi considers this assault on the leadership of the National Assembly, an independent arm of government and one of the legs of the tripod upon which the presidential system rests, as dangerous, primitive and one that constitutes a very serious threat to democracy in our country.

“It is a clear breach of one of the fundamental tenets of Presidential democracy, which provides for separation of powers.

“It also constitutes a serious abuse of the fundamental human rights of the targeted individuals, both the presiding officers and the defectors respectively, because the right to associate is inalienable.

“Sadder still, is the fact that this impunity and crass disrespect to legality and constitutionality are being perpetrated under a government that is itself a beneficiary of respect for the rule of law by the then PDP government.

“That the nation’s parliamentarians and their leadership could brazenly be treated like criminals under a democratic setting simply because of political differences is truly an unsettling descent into wanton abuse of power by those sworn to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’. This descent into the abyss must be halted and reversed.

“These strong-arm tactic adopted by the Police is a setback to our developing democracy and a serious dent on the standing of Nigeria as a bastion of hope in the comity of democratic nations in Africa and it further accentuates the fears of many Nigerians that rather than consolidate on the gains of the 2015 transition, the nation’s democracy is not only stagnant, but being dangerously driven into the precipice by those who ordinarily, ought to know better.

“Senator Makarfi appeals to Nigerians to remain peaceful but vigilant and do everything within the law to stand up against forces bent on reversing our democracy gains.”

He further called on Nigerians to be patient as he beckoned on the Police to be professional in carrying out its duties.

“He equally calls on the Police and other security agencies to be professional in the discharge of their duties and never forget the fact that their loyalty is to the Nigerian nation, and not the holders of the levers of its political power, as there will always be a Tomorrow.

“The Senator also welcomes the many Senators and members of the House of Representatives who have taken the wise decision to return home to the PDP and assure them of his personal commitment to play his own part, to ensure that the party truly welcomes them back,” Makarfi added.