ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
While the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP to leave President Muhammadu Buhari out of last weekend’s invasion of residents of some Judges by operatives of the Department of State Services, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the action as “the latest in a series of actions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which reveal its disregard for the rule of law and its abject disdain for the Principle of Separation of Powers”.
In a statement issued Sunday night in Abuja and signed by the national secretary of the APC, Mai Mala Buni, the party advised all security agencies to be guided by the rule of law in the discharge of their mandates.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) is concerned about the desperation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some of its governors to drag the President into circumstances surrounding the reported raids of the homes of some judges by the State Security Service (SSS).
“The President Muhammadu Buhari APC-led administration strictly respects the principle of the Rule of Law and also adheres to the constitutional provisions of Separation of Power between the three arms of government”, the party said.
However, the PDP in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary, Dayo Adeyeye, said, “It is worthy to note that NEVER in the history of our Country has any President attacked the Judiciary in such a manner. Even the late dictator – General Sani Abacha, whose regime is remembered by many as the second worst regime in Nigerian history, did not carry out such Gestapo style attacks on the members of the Judiciary”.
“By bringing this attack to the Judiciary, President Buhari has shown that he has no desire to respect the pillars of our democracy. He has shown his desire to kill off our democracy and convert it to an autocracy without checks and balances”.
“The government has no regard for the rule of law. They do not care about Court Orders. This Government has disregarded the Orders of the ECOWAS Court and every other Courts in the land and continue to detain Dasuki illegally. They continue to detain hundreds of Nigerians without bringing them to trial and against valid Court Orders”.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Constitution in Section 153(1)(i) and Part 1 of the Third Schedule thereto establishes the National Judicial Council (NJC) and empowers same to regulate and discipline judges across the Country. The proper path to follow to discipline erring judges will be to forward a petition containing any wrong doing to the NJC along with any evidence in support thereof”.
“The path not to follow is this Gestapo style invasion in the middle of the night that involves the use of sledgehammers to breakdown gates and front doors for DSS to gain access to the homes”.
“Nigerians can no longer afford to stand aside and watch the Buhari Administration destroy the foundations of our democracy that we have built for several years. Nigerians have a duty to speak out against this sort of tyranny”.
