By Frank Momoh
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prince Uche Secondus, on Monday advised President Muhammadu Buhari,
against muzzling the legislature and the other arms of the government.
Secondus, according to his Media Aide, Mr. Ike Abonyi, spoke against the backdrop of the obvious direct involvement of the President and his party in Tuesday’s election of principal officers of the 9th Assembly said that the doctrine of the separation of power must be respected and guided to avoid dictatorship.
The National Chairman, speaking ahead of the inauguration of the 9th Assembly said in a statement that his advise has become absolutely germane given the dictatorial tendencies of the APC administration as seen in the last four years, and their continuous propensity to disregard the rule of law and other principles of democracy.
According to him, available intelligence to the party shows that the ruling party has concluded plans to use intimidation and coercion against legislators not ready to do their bidding in their desperation to hoist leadership on the legislators.
Secondus, revealed that the Presidency and the APC have been arm-twisting the technocrat officials of the National Assembly to fashion out favourable rules that would enable them have their way.
He said that the apparent disregard to the basic principles of separation of power by this regime points clearly to their eventual destination which is dictatorship.
The PDP Chairman said that the executive is trying to take over the 9th Assembly so as to realize their long held aspiration of hijacking the legislature which began in August last year during the state sponsored stealing of the Senate mace and the aborted illegal seizure of the 8th Assembly.
“Indications are clearly showing that full blown dictatorship is brewing in our country
“When a supposed democratic government brazenly muscles all the other arms of government, the legislature, the Judiciary and even the press, the fourth estate of the realm, we should be worried at what is loading in our polity.
Secondus said that any government not disposed to respecting the separation of power and rule of law as enshrined in our constitution in a democratic setting, is looking for absolute authority which is nothing but totalitarianism.
He admonished the legislators of the 9th Assembly to guide their independence jealously and refuse to be intimidated knowing that as elected representatives of the people, that they the parliament are opium of democracy.