By Felix Ugboja
ABUJA (Sundiata Post) The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated that the sack of Alhaji Babachir Lawal, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Ayo Oke, the former Director General of Nigerian Intelligent Agency (NIA) is a slap on the face of Nigerians, and has also called on the National Assembly to begin the process of impeachment against President Buhari for violating his oath of office to be just and fair to all.
According to the statement issued on Monday which was signed by the Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, It is an insult on the collective intelligence of Nigerians who have waited patiently for the President’s reaction on the corruption cases involving two of his principal aides.
The Party expresses distrust in the action of the President, especially for the fact that the probe committee to investigate the issue wasn’t duly delegated to the right authorities, and was instead headed by the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.
‘’First and foremost, we had disagreed with the President last year when he decided to setup the panel headed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to investigate the matter because we thought that was the wrong course of action to take. Ordinarily, cases of corruption or alleged cases of misappropriation of funds are supposed to be referred to institutions that are saddled with the responsibility to investigate and prosecute such matters which is the ICPC and the EFCC if there is any prima facie case against them.
‘’But it appears not all animals are equal under the Buhari APC administration . some people are treated with kid gloves while others particularly those in opposition are subjected to all manner of harrowing experiences. One of the Senators of the APC, Senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna State succinctly put the matter when he said that this administration uses deodorant to fight corruption when it comes to some APC members and President Buhari’s kitchen Cabinet and insecticides when it involves members of the opposition and those in the National Assembly.’’ The statement read.
The party also further criticised the time it has taken for the President to take an action, while the reverse is always the case when it comes to those in the opposition, especially PDP. A case in mind according to the statement is that of Sambo Dasuki whose release has been ordered by courts.
Read the rest of the statement below:
‘’This is an impeachable offence. So the President cannot just sack Ayo Oke and Babachir Lawal and expects us to be clapping for him. We believe that we are operating under a democracy and a Constitution that governs our affairs. To have subjected these people to different sets of rule and treatment is totally unacceptable. Nigerians are the same under the law and Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke should not be tried by the Presidency while others are hounded by the EFCC and ICPC.
‘’These actions of Mr. President are therefore a breach of his oath of office which he swore to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to be fair and just to all Nigerians without any discrimination whatsoever. The action of the President is a gross violation of his constitutional oath and therefore constitutes a veritable ground for impeachment .Using and applying different laws to different people in the country is a direct assault on the constitution and the rule of law . Consequently, we call on the National Assembly to begin processes to impeach the President for breach of the Constitution and fragrance disobedient to the laws of Nigeria.
‘’We totally reject these actions and the law should follow its full course on the issues of these officers. In other words, their case should be referred to the EFCC for proper investigation and trial, more so when the President has not told us what the report of the findings was. Nigerians are entitled to know the findings of the panel headed by the Vice President. The report should be made public since it is the people’s money that is involved.
‘’ There is no doubt that the sudden sack of the SGF and the DG of NIA is just a consequence of the backlash on the Abdulrasheed Maina saga. Up till now there’s no answer to the pertinent questions we have asked on the Maina saga. The government cares less about the feelings and opinions of Nigerians. This kind of arrogance is unprecedented in the history of this county. We again call for the arrest and investigation of the two Ministers involved in the return of Maina into the Civil Service, that is, the Minister of Interior, Bello Dambazau and Abubakar Mallami , the Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice.
