THE PLAGUE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! Akande, Buhari, Tinubu may be quizzed by SSS •They’re inciting military against govt - Labour Party •Afenifere, others condemn APC over budget, military chiefs • SECURITY operatives in the country may, any moment from now, invite the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over what is termed “serious threat to national security.” Indications emerged in Abuja on Friday that the different agencies had been monitoring statements credited to notable figures in the country, especially political leaders, and had decided to draw a line between mere politicking and subversion. The APC said in a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday that it had mandated its legislators in the National Assembly to block all executive bills as well as confirmation of ministerial nominees and the service chiefs. Those that may be invited, according to a security source, include APC national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, General Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Lai Muhammed. Sources told the Saturday Tribune that the security operatives believe that the time has come to do all within their powers to build peace rather than allow some persons sow seeds of discord among the people. “After analysing the details and implication of the statement credited to officials of the APC on Thursday, the agencies of government came to the conclusion that there was the need to seek further clarifications from the party officials. “The job of the security operatives is not to jump up and risk their lives when crises have already broken out, but to nip crises in the bud,” a source said, adding that anyone linked with any provocative statement henceforth would be interrogated by the agencies. But it was gathered that the agencies plan to be civil as much as possible also do everything possible to separate politics from its task. “The fact that a politician has said something does not give him or her immunity from being investigated. That will not also blackmail the security operatives from doing their job. We will separate crime from politics,” a highly placed source said, while not giving out the period set out for the interrogation of the APC officials. Afenifere, others kick The pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, on Friday condemned the directive issued by the APC to its members in the National Assembly to work against the interest of the Federal Government. Spokesman of the group, Mr Yinka Odumakin, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the directive was tantamount to shutting down the country. “The most dangerous of the APC’s recommendation is encouraging its members to engage in things that may lead to instability. The APC fails to think of the implications of not passing the budget and its effect on Nigerian masses. “Also, if approval for the service chiefs is not given by the National Assembly because of political disagreements in a state, it may lead to mutiny. This recommendation is also coming at a time when Boko Haram is intensifying its activities in Nigeria. We condemn this directive in its totality because it is a threat to our democracy,” he said. In his reaction, the Lagos State Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Mr Ehi Omokhuale, described the directive as insensitive. “Politicians should limit their selfish fights to themselves. The APC wants to use its political interest to affect the welfare of Nigerian citizens. We do not support it and we demand that the party retraces its steps on this issue immediately,” Omokhuale said. Also speaking, Mr Adesina Animashaun, the National Chairman of the Patriotic Vanguard, a non-governmental body, said that the directive might lead to anarchy. “It is unfathomable how a party leadership could meet and issue such directive. The masses will definitely be at the receiving end and it will put Nigeria in a big crisis,” he said. He urged APC members in the National Assembly to disregard the directive and do what is right for “God and man.” APC inciting military – Labour Party The Labour Party at a press conference in Abuja on Friday said the directive by the APC to block confirmation of military chiefs “is an attempt to anger the military to think and reconsider their roles in the Nigerian nation and democracy.” Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, the National Chairman of the party, said “The real reason is to anger the military. The real reason is to push for military coup. We are talking about senior military officers who have over the years laid down their lives for the nation and Nigerian people, who no doubt deserve appointments to the highest positions in their career.” He said: “We must not allow power mongers and desperate politicians, particularly those who were part and parcel of the story of the sorry state Nigeria found itself, to truncate our hard-earned democracy. The president must not allow himself to be intimidated by the mischievous antics of the APC political leaders who are so desperate for power that they do not want to wait for 2015 when Nigerian electorate will exercise their inalienable rights to choose their leader.” He described the resolution of APC committee as subversive, insensitive and unpatriotic to the fragile Nigerian heterogeneous and multi- ethnic society. “We condemn very strongly the extremism and fundamentalism that the APC has come to be associated with. What APC has proposed to do is a recipe for the disintegration of the Nigerian state. It is, therefore, an ill wind that will blow no one any good. The desire and the quest of APC to win the 2015 presidential election will remain a pipe dream if there is no Nigeria for them to govern.” ‘Critics are illiterates’ APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in his reaction, described those criticising the party’s position as a bunch of illiterates who need a study on democracy to be able to appreciate that a government under which impunity reigns deserves to be shut down. “A government under which people are being attacked, rights being stepped upon should be shut down, and does not need a budget. That’s democracy. Democracy allows us to do it and that’s what we have done,” he said in a telephone interview with Saturday Tribune. “Where were Afenifere and the Labour Party when 13,000 teachers going to collect their letters of appointment were dispersed with teargas? Where were they when Senator (Magnus) Abe was shot with a rubber bullet? They kept quiet in the face of impunity and they are now criticising us for doing the right thing democratically,” Muhammed said. But a PDP legislator representing Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere Federal Constituency, Honourable Segun Odebunmi, on Friday described the APC’s directive as an invitation to anarchy, stemming from ignorance of its effect on national security. Odebunmi, in a statement made available to Saturday Tribune, said it was a decision taken out of lack of concern for the collective national interest. “First and foremost, I want to say that our national interest should be above partisan, religious and regional interest. APC, as a party, is sentimental and it lacks the moral justification to give such order to its legislators, knowing fully well that they are not unconscious of the national security of this great nation and the hard-earned democracy. “This act is purely an invitation to anarchy and it shows how regionally biased they are. Since the inception of this seventh National Assembly, the House of Representatives has been conscious of issues affecting lives and properties of Nigerians home and abroad, irrespective of their political or religious interests. “APC should rather focus on national issues and stop toying with issues affecting the masses other than ordering the blockage of executive bills, especially the 2014 budget and the ratification of the service chiefs that will create vacuum in the national security. “It is obvious that APC is not an alternative to the PDP because of its selfish style of politics. Nigerians should beware.” Nothing wrong with govt shutdown – Gbajabiamila Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday said there was nothing wrong with APC’s directive. The legislator, however, said “the progressive lawmakers would not truncate the country’s hard-earned democracy. We will do what we need to do to ensure good governance in our country. “Government shutdown or filibustering is nothing new in party politics world over. When government isn’t shut down and successive budgets have been passed, of what benefit has it been to the common man? “The end justifies the means – the end in this context being good governance, and the means extraordinary measures such as this,” Gbajabiamila stated.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 00:43:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015