Alleged Persecution: PDP senators pass vote of no confidence on Buhari

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate have passed a vote of no confidence on President Muhammadu Buhari over what they termed high-handedness and unfair treatment of perceived political enemies.

The legislators at a press briefing on Wednesday said emphatically that they are withdrawing their support for the government under the control of the APC with immediate effect.

The opposition party currently has 44 lawmakers in the upper chamber; enough to frustrate any matter that demands two-third majority vote to pass.

The grouse of the PDP Senators, according to them, stemmed from the decision of the executive to prosecute the Senate President Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike EKweremadu over alleged involvement in the forgery of Senate Rule, 2015 (as amended).

In the communique read by Emmanuel Bwacha, Godswill Akpabio, Phillip Aduda and Biodun Olujimi, they insisted that what is going on in the name of anti-corruption by the APC government was a witch-hunt of the opposition, lamenting that known members of the ruling party found to have been involved in sleaze are protected from the long arms of the law.

The Presidency also came under heavy criticism for the freezing of the personal account of the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

The communique reads in part: “The deployment of State instruments of coercion to intimidate an independent arm of government like the legislature is now a major threat to the survival of our democracy.

“The glaring witchhunt of perceived opposition elements in the polity is invitation to anarchy.

“The war against corruption should not be selective, must be fought with sincerity and not the politics that is being played now with ‘war against corruption’.

“We therefore condemn in strong terms the sentiments displayed in fighting corruption. e.g. freezing of account of the Ekiti State Governor, is clearly a political witch hunt. Since the war against corruption has devolved into probing campaign funds, it should be extended to all parties, APC inclusive.

“The PDP Senate Caucus therefore wish to warn the Executive arm of government to act with caution on matters that have the potency to subvert our democracy.

“The Executive must therefore desist from these acts of lawlessness that are only typical in a military dictatorship.

“The caucus therefore wish to advise the APC led government to concentrate on the existing economic and security challenges that are threatening our survival as a nation.

“Finally, the PDP Caucus wish to reiterate that we will no longer support the APC government until they cease the belligerent attitude towards PDP members”.

Similarly, Saraki has maintained that he knows nothing about how the rules adopted in the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 9, 2015 was formulated.

He said the on-going efforts to drag him into a case of forgery before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, was just another phase in the orchestrated persecution he has faced since he emerged as Senate President over a year ago.

Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated that he was not a part of the leadership of the 7th Senate that made the rules in question and prior to his unanimous election as Senate President on June 9, 2015, he was merely a Senator-elect like all his colleagues and therefore was not in a position to influence the rules that were to be used in the conduct of the election.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE