APC calls for independent inquiry into Police invasion of NASS
(Nigeria) The
All Progressives Congress, APC, has said the police invasion of the
National Assembly last week is the equivalent of a coup and called for
an independent inquiry to determine who ordered the invasion and for
what purpose, with a view to preventing a recurrence and also meting out
the necessary punishment to those behind it.
APC in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday
by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that using weapons to attack an arm of government and preventing it from
carrying out its functions are tantamount to a coup, adding that the
tear gas that was fired into the National Assembly by an invading force
of policemen is a chemical weapon.
''We are
demanding the independent inquiry In view of the seriousness of the
armed attack on the National Assembly and the danger it poses to our
democracy. We are also alerting the international community to the
happenings in Nigeria and urging them to show interest because of their
investment in the country's democracy,'' it said.
The
APC said the tepid denial by the presidency of its involvement in the
senseless attack is not enough to stop the finger-pointing at it
(presidency), especially because no one, not even the Inspector General
of Police, will have the temerity to stop the nation's number four
citizen from entering the National Assembly without an express order
from the President.
''This is why we have
continuously held the President responsible for last week's show of
shame,'' the party said, noting that the IG is just a tool in the hands
of a President that has perhaps done more than any other President
before him to truncate the nation's democracy.
''We
make bold to say that President Jonathan has worked assiduously to put
Nigeria's democracy in jeopardy, whether in Rivers where he backed a
misguided Police Commissioner to usurp the constitutional duties of an
elected Governor, or in Ekiti State where he has so far refused to
condemn the so-called impeachment of the Speaker by seven PDP members in
a 26-member House of Assembly.
''Also, apart
from the halfhearted and belated denial, the President has not condemned
the attack on the National Assembly by the police. A President that is
conversant with the dictates of the constitution which he swore an oath
to protect would have gone ahead to make a national broadcast to condemn
the police invasion of the Assembly and even promised to get to the
root of the matter. Instead, our President has maintained an undignified
silence in the face of the global outcry that has greeted the
orchestrated police action,'' it said.
APC
advised President Goodluck Jonathan to stop behaving as if he wants to
be the last President of a united Nigeria and to immediately put an end
to actions that are inimical to the very survival of the country's
democracy.
Meanwhile, the party has
congratulated the members of the National Assembly, especially those who
scaled the high gates of the National Assembly, for the sacrifices they
have made to defend the nation's democracy.
It said that the lawmakers, by their action, risked their lives for the survival of Nigeria's democracy, hence they are heroes.
''The
lawmakers who united across party lines last week to restore the
integrity of the House of Representatives and prevent an attempt to
truncate our democracy are heroes, because if they had not done what
they did, no one could have imagined the consequences of the
orchestrated police action against the National Assembly.
''The
Senators who stormed the House in sympathy and solidarity with their
colleagues, including Senate President David Mark, should also be
commended by all for resisting tyranny and for facing up to
anti-democratic forces,'' APC said.
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