The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday faulted the action of President Muhammadu Buhari and said he violated oath of office by using the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Chambers and government resources to conduct the affairs of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP described Bubari’s action as height of corruption, as well as a desecration of the sanctity of the seat of power, and national values.
This is just as the party has asked the Governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni, and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami to immediately resign.
While it said Malami functioned as notary public and performed the swearing-in of the APC cartaker committee, as against the law, the party noted that Buni was sworn in as the Chairman of APC Caretaker Committee.
By this, the PDP said the government functionaries made themselves full administrative officers of the APC and as such, should immediately resign, in keeping with Article 17 (iv) of the APC Constitution which prohibits such dual mandate.
Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity Secretary stated this in a statement issued in Abuja. He further insisted that Buhari has devalued governance.
“The PDP says never in the history of our nation has governance been so devalued to the extent of using the hallowed chamber of the highest executive body in the country, where high-level executive decisions are taken, for an illegal, wrongly constituted and Nicodemus meeting of a political party.
“This shameful development is a further manifestation of the level of impunity, recklessness, disrespect for rules and disdain for our laws by the APC administration, whose latest action exposes a move towards instituting the art of running processes and programmes through illegality, illicitness, illegitimate and unlawful means driven by crude force and naked power.
“Furthermore, it is an indefensible double standard for President Buhari, whose administration has been hounding and prosecuting innocent Nigerians for allegedly using public resources for activities of their political parties, to use the resources and facilities of the FEC chamber for his party’s NEC meeting.
“It is even more distressing that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, is part of this desecration of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by functioning as a notary public to a political party and using official facilities of FEC chamber to administer oath of office to a functionary of a political party, in total disregard to his oath of office, the code of conduct prohibitions under the 5th Schedule and extant public service rules.
“The PDP holds that by using government facilities and resources to promote the activities of his party, the Attorney General has become culpable of the same offence for which he has been prosecuting innocent Nigerians.
“Our party therefore demands that the Attorney General should immediately resign from office and surrender himself for prosecution
“It is even more disgraceful that the furtive APC NEC meeting at the FEC Chamber was convened in total violation of the APC Constitution, which prescribes 14 days notice for regular NEC meeting and 7 days notice in the case of an emergency meeting under Article 25 (b) (i) and (ii) respectively.
“Such a coup against their own party’s constitution renders the purported APC NEC meeting illegal and decisions taken therein, a complete nullity,” it stated.
