The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that Friday’s invasion of the sanctity of the Federal High Court by the Department of State Service (DSS) further confirmed that Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency, was finally sliding into a frightening dictatorship.
In a statement issued in Abuja by Kola Ologbondiyan, it’s National Publicity Secretary, the party observed that the DSS’ action was a vindication of its earlier stand that the nation was no longer governed by democratic principles of rule of law and dictates of the constitution.
The main opposition party added: “Today, the world watched with shock as operatives of the Presidency-controlled DSS, in a most horrific manner, swooped on the court, held the judiciary to ransom, disrupted proceedings, scared away the judge, chased away lawyers and journalists, attacked and re-arrested persons standing trial within the precincts of the court, in a manner that can only be obtainable in Idi Amin’s Uganda.
“The invasion is in a forceful suspension of our constitutional order and a further battering of the judiciary, which points to emerging lawlessness that can only find space in a military regime.
“Without prejudice to the charge against the Convener of the ‘Revolution Now’ movement, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, the PDP holds that, in a normal democracy, it is the duty of the court to determine the fate of an accused, according to the laws and not a resort to brute force by the government to silence persons with dissenting voices.
“Our party notes that such a violation, as embarrassingly witnessed in the Abuja court this weekend, is a direct invitation to anarchy and a huge threat to the unity, peace, stability and corporate existence of our nation and the safety of our citizens.
“Indeed, this is not the Nigeria our citizens yearn for and it is imperative to restate that Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency, is fast sliding into a dark country where laws are suspended, the judiciary is assaulted and citizens are stripped of their fundamental rights.”
The PDP called on well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to call the Buhari Presidency to order before its actions derail the nation and trigger a breakdown of law and order in the land.
“The international community must have more than a passing glance at the situation in Nigeria as any crisis in our country, God forbid, given our population, is capable of having a negative spillover effect across the African continent and other parts of the world,” it said.
The PDP urged Nigerians across the board, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic learnings, to unite in condemnation of the “dictatorial tendencies of the present administration and in defending our democracy and unity as a nation.”
