The Peoples Democratic Party has asked the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress not to intimidate or harass the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, and the National Assembly Service Commission for their roles in the controversial elections of the leadership of the National Assembly.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja, on Thursday, said any attempt by the APC to transfer its frustration would amount to witch-hunt and victimisation.
He said the undertone of the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, that the Clerk was adequately requested to shift the time for the inauguration to enable the President address the APC legislators but he ignored it, “amounts to putting undue pressure on civil servants in the National Assembly for performing their legitimate duties and sends a serious signal which should not be ignored.”
Shehu had said the Clerk and Senator Bukola Saraki, who emerged the Senate President during the election which was witnessed with just 57 senators out of 109, were notified about the meeting the President was scheduled to have with the APC lawmakers.
According to the presidential aide, he said the assumption was that every loyal and committed party member would have presented themselves to the party and to their President.
He regretted that this didn’t happen.
Metuh, however, described as unfortunate, the fact that the APC displayed its “arrogance and disrespect for the dictates of the constitution” by attempting to adjust the President’s promulgation order on the National Assembly and seeking to put their interest over and above the supreme law of the land.
He said, “It is a clear mark of disrespect to the constitution for the President and his party to fix a meeting for him to address their legislators the same time he had directed the Assembly to be inaugurated in line with the constitution.
“For 16 years that PDP nurtured democracy in this country, there was never a day it attempted to arm-twist or intimidate the bureaucracy of the National Assembly to do its bidding given our recognition and respect for the independence and sanctity of the legislative arm.
“The National Assembly is the citadel of democracy and represents the collective voice of all Nigerians. The PDP, even in opposition, will continue to protect its sanctity and will therefore resist any attempt by the APC to undermine its independence and those of other democratic institutions in our country.”
Metuh noted that the position of the APC and the Presidency clearly negates President Buhari’s well-received and praised assertion in his inaugural speech that he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody as Nigeria’s President.
He therefore charged the Presidency and APC to apologise to Nigerians for the embarrassment their “ineptitude and inexperience have been causing the nation since they came into office.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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This Metuh guy is just a fool. Period.
ReplyDeleteYou are a bigger fool. Enough of this crass stupidity. Both of u guys in apc n pdp are just self serving politicians.
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