Onnoghen: Buhari orchestrating destruction of democracy ― Secondus

THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has said that the Federal Government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari was orchestrating the destruction of democracy in the country because of the hidden agenda of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to rig next month’s Presidential election.

This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja today by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Prince Secondus.

According to the statement, Secondus accused  President Buhari and his team of “arm twisting the code of conduct tribunal to force out the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen because they believe that an independent Judiciary will obstruct their rigging plan.”

The National Chairman who was reacting to the report that Federal Government had asked the CJN, to vacate office said that “the illegal provocative action has left no one including the global democracies in doubt that indeed democratic rule has been suspended in Nigeria to pave way for dictatorship.”

According to him, “the blackmail, the frame up and the orchestration of fictitious figures in the CJN’s bank accounts by the government and their agents are an all deliberate ploy to destroy the envious career of a man because of desperation for power.

“What they are trying to do is not only illegal but a recipe for anarchy and breakdown of rule of law and must be vehemently resisted.

” It’s now very glaring that President Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, have concluded plans to plunge this country into a major crisis in frustration for their apparent inevitable rejection by Nigerians.”

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He lamented that trying to force the head of an arm of government out of office without following the clearly laid down procedures amounted to breach of rules and an invitation to a major national crisis.

Prince Secondus urged the CJN to disregard the directives and remain in his office as the constitution guiding the operations of government was very clear on how he could be removed.

According to him,” President Buhari’s inclination to non-democratic behaviour is now apparent as he moves to muscle all other arms of government as well as ingredients of democracy.”

The main opposition leader directed all lovers of democracy and rule of law in our country to stand up to be countered as its now obvious that APC administration was determined to wreck the nation’s democracy all because they were being rejected by Nigerians.

“The agenda is not hidden, which is to truncate democracy rather than face the Nigerian electorate,” he stated m

He said that the CJN should disregard the directive from the executive as it did not follow the requirement of the law.

“After the 2016 bizarre arrest and harassment of some Judges and Justices of the Nation’s Supreme Court and August 8, 2018, failed coup d’état on the National Assembly including the sponsored theft of the Senate mace, added to the latest, it’s now very clear that democratic norms have taken flight in the country under President Buhari,” he pointed out.

He disclosed that President Buhari had released his fangs on the judiciary as part of the intimidation agenda of the regime preparatory to the rigging of the 2019 Presidential election.

According to him, “because of what they have in stock, their nefarious plans to thwart the will of the people in the forthcoming general election, they want to raise the level of the intimidation of all critical organs of democracy, the legislature, the Judiciary including but not limited to the fourth estate of the realm, the press.

“What other evidence do we need to show that threat to democracy is real and evident with President Buhari abhorring all known ingredients of democracy including rule of law.”

Secondus stated that the true colour of the President “is now out and Nigeria is returning to 1984 when all instruments of democracy were destroyed in the country under the supervision of then General Buhari.