The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the National Assembly to immediately pull the full weight of all legislative instruments against President Muhammadu Buhari to save the nation from imminent collapse.
A statement signed by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said President Buhari crossed the line by placing the country’s democracy in jeopardy, thus setting the nation on the path of anarchy.
The statement said, “The invasion of our highest legislative institution by agents of the Buhari-led executive, a few months after the Senate mace was blazingly carted away by armed hoodlums, is condemnable, reprehensible, unpardonable, and completely unacceptable.
“With this siege, barely a week after presiding officers of the Senate were held hostage at their residences, it has become clear that the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) intend to forcefully overrun and ultimately shutdown the highest lawmaking organ of the Nigerian government and pave the way for the total suspension of constitutional rule in the country.
“The PDP notes in this administration’s quest to foist a fascist regime on our country, the APC-led government has taken several steps and actions tending towards the suspension of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), including direct usurpations of the duties and powers of the National Assembly and the judiciary in governance.
“Nigerians and the international community will recall that the PDP had earlier alerted of this plot, which included the phony medical trip to London for President Buhari as an alibi to exonerate him from any blame for this sordid assaults on democracy.
“The PDP, therefore, calls on the Government of Britain to support Nigeria at this perilous time by not shielding President Buhari in London. Nigerians urge the British government and other members of the international community to immediately condemn and totally reject the ugly developments in our country.
“President Buhari and his APC have consecutively and deliberately put our nation and its democracy on harm’s way and the National Assembly, as representatives of the people, must eschew all partisan interests and save the nation by immediately deploying all legislative instruments against President Buhari before it is too late.
“It is instructive to state that if today’s assault on our legislature had succeeded, it would have been the second time Muhammadu Buhari would have toppled constitutional rule in our country.
“Finally, the PDP commends Nigerians, who marched out in their numbers today, in response to our earlier call, to resist this brigandage against our nation even as we urge them to remain alert, as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.