Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National
Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday
reflected on the protracted Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) crisis in Rivers
State, warning that it portends grave
danger to constitutional democracy and
individual liberty.
The former Lagos State governor urged
men and women of goodwill to ponder
over the fate of constitutional democracy
and federalism, adding that Governor
Rotimi Amaechi should not be abandoned
in this period of trial.
Tinubu, who noted that gloomy and
uncertain days lie ahead, pointed out that
Amaechi was marked down for
liquidation, following his resistance to the
alleged injustice triggered by the fierce
oil field battles between Rivers State to
Bayelsa State.
The ACN national leader condemned the
biased involvement of the Presidency, the
PDP leaders and the police in the
lingering crises, stressing that the
President’s posture contradicted his
avowed commitment to the
transformation agenda.
Tinubu said in a statement in Lagos that
the five legislators who plotted the
anarchy in the Rivers State House of
Assembly last week have mocked their
callings as lawmakers.
He said: “With the latest drama in the
Rivers State House of Assembly, the PDP
is at it again. The ruling party has inflicted
yet another mortal injury on Nigeria’s
democracy. As the House reconvened
after a recent adjournment due to a
police failure to provide adequate security
to this legislative body, thugs hired by
sinister forces allied to the powers in
Abuja were unleashed on the
unsuspecting majority in the State
Assembly. “While the House was to
consider a necessary budgetary matter, a
cell of five legislators, making a mockery
of their title as lawmakers, had plotted
anarchy in their own chamber. They
engineered this coup against the very
body in which they serve.
“This group of five and their sponsors
attacked the other 27 members and the
deputy governor who was making a
presentation on a budgetary matter
pending before the House. All this
occurred under the watchful eye, but idle
hand of the police officers deployed to
guard the chamber.
“We can say the police in Rivers became
an accomplice to an illegal attack on the
very government and constitution they
pledged to uphold. This was a shameful
moment but even worse, it is a likely
foretaste of the partisan role the police
will take in coming elections.”
In Tinubu’s view, the PDP has added that
shameful public brawling to its list of
accomplishments by acting as a “fight
club” that employs the police as ushers
for its matches.
He disagreed with the denial of
involvement by the party and the
Presidency, stressing that “there is no way
the police and the small number of five
lawmakers would act so brazenly unless
they receive instructions from the high
places”.
The ACN national leader added:
“Nigerians must ask: “Is this the way
President Jonathan intends to transform
Nigeria? By turning it from an imperfect
democracy into a perfect mess? A total
lack of respect for Constitutional
democracy is what we are witnessing.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi swore an oath
to protect and serve the people of Rivers
State. He is thus empowered by the
Constitution to carry out this function.
Not even the Police has the constitutional
right to impede him from carrying out his
functions as governor. Yet, we have a
federal government under whose eager
eyes an assault on our constitution is
taking place in the open.”
Tinubu cautioned against the danger of
abandoning Amaechi to his fate, warning
that more victims would suffer the
impunity of the PDP in the future, if this
trend is not curtailed.
He said: “My advice is that we should not
leave Governor Amaechi to suffer his fate
alone. All true democrats must defend
constitutional democracy and true
federalism. In what stable and functioning
democracy can you find a President or his
agents bully a governor this way or violate
the federal Constitution so openly with
complete impunity?
“ When the interest of the nation is
subjugated so that the narrow, parochial
interest of a clique in power is served,
events like we see unfold in Rivers will
soon become common place.
“As a new breed of imperial rulers run
amok and with impunity, violate Nigeria’s
Constitution, the days ahead seem
gloomy and uncertain. Discerning minds
must locate the present crisis in the
suspected injustice in the Bayelsa and
Rivers State oil boundary legal battle. For
standing up in defence of the interest of
his people, Governor Amaechi became a
marked person.
“The irreconcilable political differences
between main actors in Rivers State soon
magnified the crisis with heavy lifting
from the Presidency. Like a running
thriller with nightmarish garnishing,
Nigerians are watching an elected
governor come under incessant illegal
assault sanctioned by the powers that be.
But we need not just watch. People with
good conscience must speak up now.”
Tinubu pointed out that the Rivers PDP
crises were consistent with the party’s
past attempts to scuttle fair elections and
genuine democratic processes.
He said: “Undermining democracy has
become a central plank in the party’s
manifesto. What happened in the Rivers
House is one more reminder. PDP
leaders hold democracy in contempt and
will trample it, if given the slightest
opportunity. If they invert the relatively
small numbers involved in the Nigerian
Governors Forum (NGF) and the Rivers
State House, what they might do to
general elections involving such a large
population as ours is a hard piece of wood
to chew”.
Tinubu warned the PDP leaders against
lording it over the 150 million Nigerians
in a manner reminiscent of the colonial
masters, adding that it is impossible to
seek to control the mind of the people
through threat, intimidation and assault.
He said that this style, which could lead
to “elected dictatorship”, is unacceptable,
even if the dictator initially got to office
through the ballot.
Describing the PDP as “poor steward of
democracy”, Tinubu added: “It is hard to
be a good democrat without knowing how
to count properly and this crew cannot
count. During the NGF debacle, they
claimed that 16 was larger than 19. Now
in Rivers, they claim 5 outnumbers 27.
“If they can’t count, how can we count on
them to improve the nation? If they can’t
add, it is a mistake to rely on them to add
anything good to our lives. For reasons
best known to them, they have tried to
pin the Rivers governor to the wall. In
doing so, they have turned Rivers into an
embattled state.
“Those of us living in other states should
not be indifferent. What is happening in
Rivers today can come to your state
tomorrow if the PDP holds sway. Events
in that state are but a symbol and a
forecast. As long as the current PDP
leadership holds forth, we will have many
rivers to cross before this land sees
genuine democracy”.
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