Nigeria sliding into official terrorism under Buhari - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the nation is on a quick slide into fascism and official terrorism under President Muhammadu Buhari's led government.

The party accused the Presidency of introducing an ominous undemocratic nomenclature in the country's political space known as "new Sheriff" to drift the nation towards dictatorship.

In a statement Saturday by PDP national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, the party expressed worry over what it termed “relentless onslaught" against democratic institutions including the National Assembly.

It said the nation is facing a defining moment for the survival of democracy, stressing that Nigeria has come to a point where citizens, irrespective of political affiliations, can no longer freely express their views. 

The PDP enumerated the sins of President Buhari's led administration to include operating a government without a cabinet, persistent abuse of power, undermining of democratic institutions, invasion of state government and personal houses, injecting confusion into the judiciary and hounding of individuals perceived to be against its interests.

The party explained that it is not interested in whether Senate President Bukola Saraki ran for the APC Presidential ticket against President Muhammadu Buhari or whether he ran for the Senate Presidency against the advice of the President and his party, but that it concerns is the prevailing "executive intolerance", undermining of the institution of the National Assembly and the overall threat to the survival of democracy.

It also described as a mockery of reasoning, for President Buhari to  condemn the recent coup in Burkina Faso while his government it claimed continue to violate the provisions of the constitution of the country.

“We note this dangerous trend because the Presidency and the APC have not hidden their aversion to the election of Senators Bukola Saraki and  Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President and Deputy Senate President 
respectively, even as the fact of various moves to oust them from office, including the recent unsubstantiated allegations of forgery and harassments by the federal controlled security agencies are in the public domain.

“We call on Nigerians to be aware that the fixation on the leadership of  the National Assembly is part of a major step towards the appropriation  of the federal legislature, so as to undermine its statutory role of 
checks and balances and set the stage for dictatorship in the land.

“Part of this script is to commence a major onslaught against federal  lawmakers perceived to hold divergent views to those of the Presidency,  irrespective of party affiliations, a situation that would ensure a 
subdued legislature," the party said.