PDP reports Buhari to international community over alleged rights abuses
Buhari
Accuses President of nepotism, selective anti-corruption war
LEADERS and stakeholders in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rose from a conference in Abuja yesterday drawing the attention of the international community to what it called “the growing impunity, abuse of power, constitution infractions, violation of human rights, selective war against corruption” of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The party also accused the President of nepotism and serious acts of authoritarianism which it noted was ruining the country’s democracy.
In a 12-point communique signed by the national secretary, Adewale Oladipo, the party , among others, condemned “in strongest terms the growing authoritarianism of the APC-led Federal Government which has been characterised by gross violation of human rights, constitutional infractions, invasion of a governor’s lodge and private homes, deliberate interference and instigation of crisis in the legislature, arm-twisting of the judiciary, undermining of democratic institutions like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), nepotism in appointments, abuse of power and clamp down on opposition elements.
“We call on the international community to note the growing impunity, abuse of power, constitution infractions, violation of human rights, selective war against corruption, clamp down on the opposition, divisiveness and overall high-handedness; tendencies that pose great threat to our democracy and unity as a nation.”
The conference which was held in the absence of former President Goodluck Jonathan also encouraged the party to continue to deliver sound and qualitative opposition to the APC government to achieve good governance.
It also “resolved to implement the recommendations of the PDP-Post Election Review Committee Report, especially those relating to zoning, internal democracy, e-registration and the restructuring of the party at all levels with a view to giving the party back to the rightful owners – the people.
The PDP also “denounced the prevailing selective application in the fight against corruption targeted at opposition elements and perceived opponents of the regime, while APC members with corruption charges are being rewarded with ministerial positions and other juicy appointments as well as APC tickets in the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.”
The party also said it “vehemently rejected the current manipulation of the judiciary and security forces by the APC-led Federal Government in its desperate bid to subvert the sovereign will of the people and forcefully take over states genuinely won by the PDP in the last general elections and ultimately impose a one-party state in Nigeria.”
Other aspects of the communiqué showed that the party “charged the new INEC leadership to assert the independence of the electoral body, resist all external influences and ensure free, fair and credible electoral process in Kogi and Bayelsa states and other future elections, as the PDP will not accept any results that do not reflect the true wishes and aspirations of the people, particularly in Kogi and Bayelsa states.”
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who was the chairman of the conference called on PDP faithful to hold the APC-led Federal Government accountable on its campaign promises, recalling that “even during military rule, the PDP founding fathers under the aegis of the G34,“looked tyranny in the face and demanded a return to democratic rule.
“Looking at the way our country is being run by the APC-led Federal Government today, it is safe to say that we are back in the trenches for democracy because credible and responsible opposition is an essential, indeed indispensable component of thriving democracy and good governance.
“The ruling party must always be put at the mercy of the truth, for the job of the opposition is to confront errors with the truth; to stand up for what is right; to offer constructive criticisms of the follies and errors of the ruling party; and to proffer better ideas for moving the nation forward.”
Regretting that the APC was yet to keep any of its campaign promises, Ekweremadu added: “As could be seen from the events of the past few months, it is evident that while a party may ride to power on the wings of propaganda, it takes more than propaganda to govern well and retain goodwill.
The APC won by promising much more than they could deliver. They promised to scale up the exchange rate of our currency to a naira to one US Dollar. Have they kept this promise? They promised to bring back the Chibok Girls in less than three months. Have they brought back the Chibok Girls? They promised to pay N5,000 to unemployed youths. Have they paid a kobo to any youth? They promised free meals to our children in the schools. Have they given any? They recently promised to end the Boko Haram insurgency in December 2015. We earnestly hope and pray that this particular promise is kept in the overall interest of our nation.
PDP governors’ forum led by its chairman and Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, asked Buhari to reduce the level of partisanship in government, noting that such would adversely affect the capacity to achieve good governance.
The governors decried what they called the refusal of the Federal Government to release to Kogi State, it’s own share of the bail out funds.
In a speech at the conference, PDP acting National Chairman, Uche Secondus, commended the Senate for exposing the alleged corruption in the management of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
He said: “Just yesterday, the Senate commenced the investigation of an allegation involving the payment of commission to a company allegedly owned by a Northern APC governor and a South-Western APC leader for collecting monies meant for the Single Treasury Account in violation of the BIOFA Act. This is an unprecedented rip-off of our common wealth.
We urge a thorough investigation of this allegation and the transparent prosecution of anybody indicted in this fraudulent deal no matter how highly placed.”
Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor, on his part, accused Buhari of breaching the constitution by delaying the submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the National Assembly as required by law.
In his submission at the conference, chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Haliru Bello, decried what he called persistent excuses by the Federal Government on matters it had promised to resolve.
He said:”At the beginning we learnt that our government left an empty treasury but revenues continued to be generated in the last six months, Federation Account Allocation Committee continued to hold and money shared between Federal, State and Local governments. Have we seen any change?
‘‘The APC was aware of the state of treasury when they made the promise that the naira will rise and be equivalent to the dollar. What is happening now? The naira has continued to depreciate beyond what they inherited. Tragically, instead of saving the naira, we can say they are killing the naira.
They promised free education and free meals for school children, among other hollow promises. Where are the schools? Where are the meals? All the excuses we hear are about budget not being prepared, who is manning the treasury now? Who has majority at the National Assembly? Is six months not long enough for any adjustment required in the budget to be made? Have they not heard of something called a supplementary budget?
‘‘In six months, we expected Buhari to start showing evidence that he will abide by his campaign promises. We expected to see more done to improve our security. We also expected more on the economy and employment generation, policies are being whimsically churned out that have forced companies to either close down or reduce their work force.”
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
46 Comments
The resolutions of this conference are not figments of the imagination of PDP chieftains. These are verifiable facts. The APC has effectively reversed democratic gains Nigeria achieved under President Jonathan. Democratic space has shrunk substantially and the country is gradually sliding into dictatorship.
Story.
In your imagination. Please can you be specific on how democratic space has shrunk in the past 6 months and what democratic gains have actually been reversed. Just parroting rhetorics is not enough.
How old I you, if I may ask?. Can’t you see that GMB have no respect for court orders?. DSS has been transformed to mean Daura Security Services. Court granted Dasuki to travel and come back to face trail, buhari said no. Kanu, the biafran apostle was granted bail by competent court of the land, buhari said never. what is no than shrinking the democratic space than these impunity.
if you understood my question and the specifics you won’t mention what you just mentioned.
Kanu was granted bail, have the conditions for his been met. Granting bail is one step, then you have to meet and fulfill the conditions for the bail before a person can be released.
On Dasuki’s case it is just unfortunate if the overzealous DSS have not done what is necessary, this overzealousness has nothing to do with Buhari but it is a systemic problem with all our security agencies, since the SC has come out with a ruling I believe they will obey now.
Also note that if you really wanted to see impunity it would have been that the Judiciary would have been influenced to deny Dasuki treatment abroad, do you even know how many Nigerians who have been denied medical attention in the DSS cells?
I will give you one, Charles Okah the brother to Henry Okah, I will give you another. D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha died from complications that developed from his incarceration in their cell in Ikoyi before he was transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja.
Atleast they allowed him to stay at home and not in a dingy cell.
You represent darkness who is the president of zoological republic called Nigeria even kids are wiser than you, asking questions that you can not answer
You “humans” should leave nah…leave the zoo for us “animals”..
And you will carry Nigeria passport and still ca that same country a zoo…is that not a reversed brain
It is very ugly to allow sentiment becloud your good conscience as man, so you called the D S S `overzealous` pls who is directing D S S ? oh does that mean Dss has more power than the president? GOD save NIGERIA
I think you are exerting too much energy joining issues with illiterates. They can’t get their heads round any of your submissions!
You are better ignored. This forum is not for a wanna be like you. If you have no opinion of own please stay away.
You are being economical with the truth.
also shrinking democratic space is about crowding out the opposition and not allowing freedom of speech. Kanu crossed that threshold immediately he went to Los Angeles and made that address asking for arms and that people will fight to the death, including threatening a bloodbath upon the nation. I hope you can see the difference.
you are right, so to say Buhari also said he will make Jonathans government ungovernable, the result we are seeing today Boko Haram, but Jonathan did not arrest or detain Buhari.
but vourt ordered his release so why not obey the court order??????
Cour ordered a bail not just a release..but what you pro-Kanu has not done he help hom meet the bail conditions..none of his so called Biafran Kinsmen want to stand for his bail..so what are we saying
what of buhari who says that he will make Jonathans government ungovernable ?????? he also said that the dog and baboon will soak in blood if he looses the election in fact he is the first to call you baboon Ebimobowei Clifford Ere
Answer the question Donald ask you about the illiterate certificate forger of sharia Islamic boko haram northern president
Really shameful comment.
What has his age got to do with anything? He is obviously within the age of reason
Plus he writes good English as well compared to Joe’s Alaba Trader English.
…..but is he really reasoning???
better opposition… shame to CHANGE!
If pdp wants the Nigerian people to vote for them come 2019 then they must be objective in their opposition. Opposing the anti- corruption stance of the president will do them no good. For the most now, all their talks is just reducing their chances of getting votes when election comes. Its like pdp has become an east Nigerian affair and that is dangerous to the party. Good but hard luck pdp.
Igbo people are the founder of corruption, they will vote for pdp, that is why they do not progress since Nigeria has been together, their fathers were president during Tafa Balewa regime, and vice vice president during Sagari regime, nothing was done for them, they are now crying they are going to stand as Biafra country, let them go and pdp will be their national party. Their woes is the result of corruption of their fore fathers and their leaders, that is why they are siding pdp. Let them go, anybody that ask them not to go will not good face of the LORD. Federal government should cancel the project of second Niger bridge,so if they become full Biafra, if they need to come to us they should join hand with Nigeria to build the bridge, and it will be our boundary.
LOL…they don’t want to go anywhere (what will you do with Alaba market – will they carry it to the SE? What will you do with all the commerce in major cities in Nigeria), they are just making gra-gra…just few of them really…majority are good compatriots…there are few lazy ones looking to be Oligarchs and they are sponsoring this nonsense, so they can be given more opportunities to share the national cake..or keep the loot they stole..those supporting the anarchy by proxy are also looters of the federal republic..If they want to go, they should have spent the time of Jonathan where they controlled the economy and everything to build up the SE like Dubai and now invite all their people first to relocate their businesses to the zone and then through their elected representatives, have a referendum…but what did they do…the few who had access connived to steal the commonwealth through the system…now that those stolen commonwealth and the system are being unwound they are crying that they are not been treated fairly…and they are sponsoring thugs to make noise on the street, media and the internet…so Nigerians and the world are not fooled.
Buhari is a terrorist, peadohpile, cattle rearer and an illiterate, so the zoo is finished!
Thanks you..shame on you for still calling yourself a Nigerian…
You better run to Somalia or Afghanistan
I do not think this useless prof is still in service. If so, he so should be dismissed. Whit trillion of Dollars that his pdp steal from Nigerians, with evidence, he is calling on international reporting Buhari to those that back him on these actions. You are fool professor.
thanks,,, you are right
PDP CHIEFTAINS SHOULD SHUT UP!, @ify_onabu:disqus , you sound tribalist. What’s the divident of demoCRAZY PDP achieved rather economic hardship, corruption and anarchy
Hebrews 12:14-15
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;”
Both the politicians and the Nigerian people must have the interest of the people at heart. Let’s be grateful to God we still have a country. No matter how bad we think things are, we still have our homes to retire to, food to eat, work to do, we still have our beloved families to live and relate with. If we push things beyond this point, let it not be that we lose these very precious things BEFORE we realize our folly as a people.
The Word of God warns us that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). If we do not deal with all the resentment that has built up and still building up, the resultant bitterness will bring trouble and the many will be defiled. Then….oh, God forbid……
Again, what do I know?
God bless Nigeria.
The amalgamation of the north and south in 1914 did not work and will never work . let’s be honest to ourselves for one moment. Let go our separate ways and allow peace to reign in our life time. Do we ever think of our future generation?
What amalgamation? What 1914 – were you hear in 1914? Every generations of Nigerians define what being Nigerian mean…even if you were here in 1914…move on, some matters were decided, make the best of your life. If God gives you a lemon, make a lemonade, stop looking for gold dust as the only thing you’d live for…live your life pursuing your dreams everyday…
PDP !!!!!!!!!!!! is this the only way you can reorganize your party and become a formidable opposition?
you need to restructure your party, change from old philosophy… stop making excuses because this means you still have a lot of question to answer… stop behaving like mongor
Please forgive me; I don’t understand it. Report who to the International Whom and what? Will those powers come in to vote come the next general elections? Our leaders all seem to wear this colonial mindset on all occasions, everywhere and all the time. That attitude seems to be what defines a leader in Nigeria even in their kleptomanic mode – when loot and plunder is best stacked abroad! It seems the ingrained habit of going abroad to denounce Nigerians as unruly and `useless` or reporting a fellow corrupt and abusive politician to a foreign audience has taken root as an effective and direct principle of state or party policy. This is a sign of chronic and incurable inferiority complex. This is an indication of the fact that our country is far far bigger than the imagination and political savvy of all our leaders. No doubt, we still remain a nation in search of men and women with big ideas, big guts and vision enough to really propel us to where we belong – The Centre of Global Gravitas.
I sorry for Nigeria O; I sorry sorry for Afrika O!
I warned Nigerians,I warned yorubas,I even went out of my way to use uncommon words to attack the proponents of this malicious set back which they tauted as change,I described buhari with every description that can fit him properly, I used idioms,analogies ,hard words ,but since yorubad were set to betray and back stab, they refused to heed my admonition. only 5 months down the line ,buhari have ran our nation aground with thoughtless leadership and bizarre almajiri somersaults. Jega connived with the axis of evil party to fraudulently impose a thoroughly weak,tired,expired ,demented sleepwalking old grandpa on our nation .Born to rule and free educated juadas tribe ,you have taking over power but this nation shall never be the same again. Our nation have come into her our of tribulations. Oh God may you sustain our nation during this period of locust invasion and see us through this hour of tribulations, may 2019 come quicker so Nigeria shall free herself from this jega imposed calamities and mortal injury. Amen.
I see you are prayerful. Good. God is holy and far removed from th edisdain you exhibit for His creations – all of us. Know that God ordained this leadership in answering the prayers of the 36,000 people killed, millions displaced, 100+million pauperized by the last administration (and he rejected a continuity of that). He will sustain this administration, so long as they stay true to the mandate of ridding Nigerians of insecurity everywhere in the land, killing corruption and reviving the economy through the rule of law and the dictates of the constitution of the country – as it is the will of Nigerians who voted freely, fairly and credibly.
Why did you bother to respond nah…has he said anything reasonable..even God would rather ignore him
This is if we cant have it, lets destroy it tendency by PDP known to have abused their powers in office.
I do not see APC/Buhari’s War against corruption as set out to abuse anyone, but to sanitize Nigeria.
I hope PDP will lean a civilized way of opposing government without heating up Nigeria & making it look unsafe in the eye of right thinking people.
While I do not subscribe to abuse of power, it is rich for PDP to complain of abuse of power, so soon after they abused APC members in office.
Unlike now, PDP leadership said nothing to protect APC members when they were being hounded & abused by Police & members of security forces.
I think if you think what is going no is dictatorship then that is what is needed , it’s just that people are not held accountable for their actions in Nigeria, else most of the people running their mouth in here who were involved either directly or indirectly in governance under PDP should be in jail, they distorted Nigeria, its economy, it’s people and it’s honor and then distorted its economic Bouyance and dream.
To PDP – If you say what is going on is dictatorship…well, at least be fair to say that it is the sort of dictatorship the people voted for, bear it and be ready to prove to Nigerians in the next 4 years how you hope to do better, and see if Nigerians would give you a mandate. Whining and screaming like cry babies every second of the day will be dismissed by the world of grown ups. Flailing and making claims will not yield any result. By complaining to the international community – what does this mean? What is the formal process for such complains? and to which body? the UN? All countries of the world ? What does this mean…I suspect it is just noise making aimed at pressuring the federal Government from NOT executing the mandate the people gave – well it will not work…the people will hold this government accountable to it’s mandate.
Probably, an insight into some incipient EXAMINATIONS of separation of powers, ambitious accountability, checks and balances on a PURPORTEDLY NIGERIAN PRESIDENCY [FAKE ASO ROCK]; from the GOP?
As soon as the APC won the presidential election, you thieves in PDP started looting the treasury all in your bid to ensure nothing is left in the federation account to prosecute the contents of the winner’s manifesto. Now you are not ashamed (as usual) of the exposure of your inadequacies and sharp practices, you prefer to play the game of a judge in his case. We know you are preempting the travails that are awaiting the rogues among you. Let it be noted by all of you that Nigerians who voted President Buhari to office will tolerate nothing short of prosecuting all of you that made life miserable for all but sent your children and families out of this country for protection and enjoyment. That is what we voted for and PDP cannot subvert our collective wish. You have not seen anything until the prisons are filled.
Where is US John Kerry who visited Nigeria almost every month to ensure that election was rigged in favour of Buhari? Is this how democracy is practiced in USA and Britain?
Very frankly, no nation develops on name-calling. Whilst the just-concluded conference of the PDP is in line with the Constitutional rights of members of that party to free assembly, the same right doesn’t confer on them another right to resort to calling Mr. President or his party names. Nigerians were well-informed about the ruin the ousted party had enmeshed the nation in and exercised their right to fire an incapable leadership. Propaganda had little to do with the decision to move forward on March 28, 2015. As such it would amount to gratuitous insult on Nigerian voters to insist that the APC and President Buhari’s victory is entirely about propaganda. Don’t forget, we aren’t that dumb to forget just now that the same PDP apparatchiks have been kicking themselves over fielding the immediate past president, GEJ, as grounds for their failure. That said, the PDP also has no moral grounds to criticise the APC for disobedience to court Orders when, until this moment, it is yet to move away from her impunity mode as exemplified in the crass disobedience by Gov. Wada Nas to the lawful Order of the Court of Appeal about a fortnight ago to IMMEDIATELY reinstate the elected Chairmen and Councilors of the 21 local councils of Kogi State that were unlawfully sacked by the governor. More so, when the case of the mastermind of the Biafran renaissance is that of failure by his Igbo kith and kin to step forward to fulfil the bail conditions. As for the former NSA, this isn’t strange. The DSS has hidden under higher national security interests to disobey court Orders whilst he was in charge. What goes around sure comes around!
We will review and take appropriate action.