FORMER Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi and Edo State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Orbih have called on Nigerians to resist the dictatorial tendencies of President Muhammadu Buhari following the sack of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Ononghen.
Orbih who spoke yesterday at a PDP rally in the company of Ikimi at Igueben local government area of Edo state said that like the proverbial leopard who does not change its spots, Buhari’s latest move only reinforced the widely held belief that he merely change his khaki uniform to agbada.
At heart, the PDP chairman said that Buhari, whose first stint as a military strong man between1983 and 1985 was characterised by the widespread violation of human rights and arbitrary arrests, is still a tyrant.
He told the mammoth crowd of party faithful, which included thousands of APC supporters who defected to the PDP, that with the sack of Onnoghen, it was quite glaring that Buhari never believed in the rule of law and only showed his true colour at the slightest opportunity.
Despite a legitimate court order, he said that it was worrisome that former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki is still in detention.
He said: “It is not for nothing that they say that a leopard never changes its spots. All that changed was that Buhari merely changed his khaki to civilian dress. It is quite clear with the illegal removal of Ononghen, he wants to continue as a dictator. Nigerians must resist this dictatorship.”
With their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), he said that there is hope as Nigerians do have the power to free themselves from the captivity and inept leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government come February 16 elections.
He added: “Just like William Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, all bondmen have the power to free themselves from captivity. Come February 16, Nigerians must use their PVCs to free themselves from APC captivity.”
As a founding member of the ruling party, Ikimi remarked that the APC four years in government in the country was an unmitigated disaster for the country as it is more polarized on ethnic and religious lines.
The former national chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC) noted that the rate of insecurity and hunger in the land has exacerbated in the last four years under Buhari as people now die in their thousands.
Like Orbih, he told the crowd which included former Senator Odion Ugbes it a, former Minister of Works, Architect Mike Onolememhen and a host of others that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a better person as the party has been reformed and purged of all the bad elements who have since found solace in APC.
The defectors who were led by a retired military officer, Joseph Amayo said that they decided to make the move as a result of starvation and unfulfilled promises under the APC led federal government.