PDP: ARREST OF JUDGES IS DESCENT INTO FASCISM

Nigeria, Oct 11, 2016 – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described weekend invasion of the homes of judges by men of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) as nothing but a descent into fascism.

In a statement, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said the invasion was carried out between 0100hrs and 0500hrs in the early morning using hundreds of fully armed men of the DSS.

“During the invasion, the Justices were manhandled and members of their families as well as their household staff beaten up.
“This invasion is 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.

“This inexorable slide into fascism began with the invasion of the Akwa Ibom State Government House by the self same DSS, the continued detention of several people despite Courts ordering their release, the invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and detention of Hon. Akanni Afolabi and the invasion of the Zamfara State House of Assembly.

“This slide into fascism has included a sustained attack on the leadership of the National Assembly as President Buhari has sought to break its independence and make it a rubber stamp to suit his will”, he said.

He noted that never in the history of Nigeria 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”, the he said.

He explained that 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”, he said adding that 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”, he said, adding that 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”, he said adding that Nigerians have a duty to speak out against this sort of tyranny.