The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
has alleged that the governing All Progressives
Congress, APC-led federal government plans to
arrest the Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu.
The PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, who
addressed a press conference on Sunday in
Abuja, said to achieve the aim, the Inspector
General of Police, Solomon Arase, has invited
Mr. Ekweremadu to report at the Force
Headquarters in Abuja on Monday after which
he would be detained.
Mr. Metuh said the APC leadership is not happy
with the emergence of Mr. Ekweremadu, a PDP
member, as the Deputy Senate President and
that after several attempts to make him resign,
has now resorted to underhand tactics.
He said since President Muhammadu Buhari’s
statement that Mr. Ekweremadu’s election was
‘unacceptable’ to his party, the Deputy Senate
President, who can only be removed by the
Senate, has come under threats and intense
pressure from APC leaders to resign and allow
a senator from the ruling party to take his
position.
“We are aware that some APC senators
opposed to the emerge of Senators Bukola
Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President
and Deputy Senate President respectively met
last week and concocted a petition accusing the
Deputy Senate President of altering the Senate
Rules on the process of election of the
Presiding Officers, upon which the police via a
letter dated July 1, 2015 and signed by the
Deputy Inspector General in charge of criminal
investigation at the Force Headquarters has
invited him to appear tomorrow, Monday, July
6, 2015 where he will be detained and put
under pressure,” he said .
Mr. Metuh said apart from the fact that the
Nigerian Constitution clearly guarantees the
two chambers of the National Assembly the
powers to regulate their proceedings without
external interferences, the alleged petition by
the APC senators who he said enjoy the
sympathy of some APC leaders, lacks merit.
He said Mr. Ekweremadu or any other senator-
elect prior to the inauguration of the Senate
and the election of presiding officers, could not
have been involved in the process of producing
the 2015 Standing Rules of the Senate, which
was strictly done by the bureaucracy under the
Clerk to the National Assembly.
“Senator Ekweremadu was not in any way
involved in the process other than being
nominated for the position of the Deputy
Senate President and could not have been privy
to the secret ballot procedure adopted by the
National Assembly bureaucracy, which has been
widely adjudged as transparent and credible,”
he said.
Mr. Metuh added that apart from the plans to
use security apparatus against the Deputy
Senate President, the PDP has information that
there are instructions to certain officials at the
Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC “to alter some electoral documents and
records in order to create the impression that
Senator Ekweremadu did not file proper
documents for the general elections to
eventually pave way for his removal
“In line with the above plot, the APC has been
having secret meetings with some judges and
lawyers to procure injunctions to prevent
Senator Ekweremadu from playing his role as
the Deputy Senate President.
“We are also aware that part of the plot is a
conspiracy to tarnish Senator Ekweremadu’s
image and open him to public ridicule.
“Last Monday, some APC leaders met in Abuja
to perfect a plot to blackmail the Deputy
Senate President by planting outlandish
publications against him in the media,” Mr.
Metuh said.
The PDP spokesperson said the Nigerian
government and APC leaders should be held
responsible should any harm come upon the
Deputy Senate President or any of its leaders.
He said the notice became necessary because
the PDP has information indicating that there
are also plans to compromise security around
the Deputy Senate President to make him
vulnerable and open for sponsored violent
attacks.
“We do hope that the era of political
assassination is not about to return to Nigeria
and that our nation will not descent into a
draconian regime where a strike force is
created to hunt key opposition figures
“We call on our citizens to note that the PDP
will not consider it a mere coincidence if our
key leaders suddenly become victims of terror
attacks or are suddenly killed by armed
robbers,” he said.
Mr. Metuh added that PDP is aware that the
APC has gone to the “ridiculous extent of
trailing key PDP leaders and bugging their
telephone lines”.
This, he said, is in addition to hiring some
disgruntled PDP members, to use the guise of
an ethnic solidarity to create some
disturbances, distractions and disruption of the
smooth operations of the PDP.
“The APC is indeed in the process of elevating
violence, ethnic and sectional interests once
more in our democracy and we call on patriotic
Nigerians across the country to resist this
dangerous design
“We are aware that President Buhari, who had
earlier restated his willingness to work with
anybody elected by the legislature, has been
put under intense pressure resulting in his
statement on the emergence of Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, which is now being misconstrued
by some of his overzealous party members and
security officials.
“We therefore urge the President to bear in
mind that the onus therefore lies on him to
moderate the political temperature of the
country by calling his overbearing party
members and security officials to order,” he
said. Source: www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/186120-apc-government-plans-to-arrest-ekweremadu-pdp.html |
