From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Former Governor of Jigawa State and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Sule Lamido has decried the rising wave of intimidation, harassment and blackmail of political opponents by the Tinubu administration.
Speaking to journalists in Kano, Wednesday, Lamido also accused President Tinubu of engaging in divisive conducts for personal political gains, adding that these actions have led to distrust and disunity among Nigerians.
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According to the former Foreign Affairs Minister, “The Federal Government, the Presidency and the APC are using the state institutions to destroy democracy, they are using them to quash the opposition, they are making use of blackmail, harassment and government patronage to those that surrender to all these”
Lamido cited several examples, one of which was the case of the former PDP Governor of Delta State and the party’s running mate in the 2023 Presidential elections, Ifeanyi Okowa, who was recently accused of a fraud of N1.3 trillion.
“And then somehow, behind the scene, he found himself into the APC and then suddenly, there was no more EFCC chasing him around. The charges have been buried conveniently,” Lamido stated.
“So it means that true to the words of Oshimolele, no matter your level of crime, if you join the APC, you will be forgiven. And that is why people are now trooping to APC. Those who feel that they are guilty are now trooping because they will be forgiven…” he lamented.
He also cited the case of Senator Natasha Akpoti- Uduaghan, Kogi State Senator, who was barred by the police from entering into the National Assembly in apparent disregard of a court judgment.
Lamido felt that the disregard for the rules of democracy was somehow linked to the country’s insecurity, lack of stability, lack of unity and lack of trust.
In his words, “Because democracy is being destroyed, therefore, there is no security, there is no stability and there is no unity and there is no trust.”
“There is no way a country can forge ahead if the components do not trust each other and one another. The components of the country must be able to come together, come together as a country of unity so that we will be able to have stability” he stated.
“But today, Nigeria’s components are not united. Tinubu has been able to put a weigh between the North -central and the core- North or the North West. He has been able to put a divide between the South- east and the South- south, using unimaginable means to be able to create these divisions for him to manipulate and employ for his own political advantage” he added.
Lamido insisted that it was up to Nigerians to resist the situation, which had seen Governors defect from their political parties to the APC or has seen opposition party members sit tight in their own party but pledge total allegiance to the ruling party and their ambitions.
“It is up to Nigerians; it is up to you to say “No”, to say that we will not accept the Pharaoh we have in Tinubu, to say that we will not agree, to say that you cannot turn us into your personal empire. To say “NO” to him, it is not for me!” he stated.
The PDP Chieftain also spoke about the coalition of political interests ahead of 2027, stating why he has been reluctant to join the coalition or may never join them.
According to Lamido, the present coalition of politicians consists of individuals, not institutions and parties as was the case in the past.
“To me, we should be able to define the parameters: Why are we coming together. To me, it should be first, for democracy; two for unity; three for stability, four for security and five for prosperity.
“This should be the unifying factor for coming into coalition not as coalition, ambition, vengeance or revenge” he added.
“So I am PDP, I will remain PDP even though PDP has a lot of problems. Because I cannot walk out of my skin and crowned in fresh and blood to be conferred with a smaller skin called ADC” he stated.
On the current agitation for state creation, the former Governor held that the desire for the creation of new states in Nigeria was legitimate but regretted that there are more pressing and exigent issues before the country than state creation.
He said that instead of state creation, the governance actors should direct their attention to existential issues of security, hunger, poverty and divisions that are almost crippling the country.
“Would state creation solve these problems? If you create more states today in Nigeria, Would it solve our problems?” he asked rhetorically.
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