Saraki, Ekweremadu’s arrest will spell doom for democracy – PDP warns

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to arrest the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekeweremadu over what it called “trumped-up charges”.

The PDP in a statement signed by the National Vice Chairman of the party, South West Zone, Eddy Olafeso called on the APC to halt the continued harassment and intimidation of the leadership of the National Assembly, stressing that the political witch-hunt will spell doom for the country if not checked.

The statement reads:

“Our attention has been drawn to a disingenuous plot by the Presidency and APC to arrest the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu over trumped up charges and therefore feels compelled to sound a note of warning to the authorities not to prosecute actions injurious to our democracy.

“The PDP wishes to declare that Nigeria is our fatherland and not an exclusive preserve of the Presidency and APC, therefore the fundamental rights of all Nigerians must not be trampled upon by a few privileged people.

“Any orchestrated arrest of both Saraki and Ekweremadu under any guise whatsoever will be viewed as a continuation of the infamous campaign of intimidation and oppression that this administration has continue to sustain against the duo for the past three years of the Buhari administration. Therefore their arrest will be an open invitation to a crisis of monumental dimension in the nation as all Nigerians now know that there remains no basis for such action.

“It is sad that a government under the Presidency of a very senior citizen will remain this petty, pedestrian and cheap in every ramification.

“Our nation at this particular period should be preoccupied with developmental goals that seek to extend the frontiers of industrialization and economic development, we should be thinking about how to uplift the social status of the ordinary Nigerians.

“This pettiness must stop, Nigerians did not vote for the APC in 2015, to entrench this sordid pedestrian attitude in our national life.”

Olafeso also berated the chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole for his continuous insults on the leaders of PDP, particularly, former president Olusegun Obasanjo and admonished that if such goes unbated, the PDP will be left with no choice than squaring up with Oshiomhole.

“We also note that the APC has of recent become very rabid since Adams Oshiomole became its Chairman, it has become his regular pastime to seek to insult and assault our leaders and their legacies as if that is his term of reference as Chairman, particularly of note is his constant abuses on Emeritus President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“This ill mannered action continues to rob the ruling Party of maturity and a decent approach to tackling political issues, his flippant, loquacious and uncouth language is symptomatic of unfounded aggression and unfounded grudge.

“We wish to state that we take absolute exceptions to his wholesale abuses and insults on Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and any other Yoruba leader for that matter and will henceforth be prepared to square up with him on this score should he persist in his ludicrous actions,” the party said.