The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said that with the continued lockdown on the residence of Senator Dino Melaye by the police, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency is turning Nigeria into a police state.It alleged that those opposed to President Buhari’s re-election were being treated like enemies of the state.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, urged Nigerians to note that “the only sin committed by its Presidential Campaign Director of Civil Societies, Senator Dino Melaye, is his return to the PDP and his forthright stand against the misrule of the Buhari administration, which are all well within his rights as a citizen.”
Also, the PDP lamented that “since Senator Melaye left the APC, the Buhari administration has continued to hound and harass him, as well as the members of his family with trumped-up charges, all aimed to silence and put him out of circulation ahead of the 2019 general elections.”
Besides, the PDP has asked Buhari to dedicate his New Year message to addressing serious corruption allegation against members of his family and administration.
It urged him to forget about making more promises to Nigerians since he had already informed them of harder times ahead. Ologbondiyan, in a statement, said: “In case Mr. President considers the New Year message a ritual which he must fulfill, he should use the occasion to provide answers to the allegations that he soiled his hands in the alleged corrupt acquisition of Etisalat Nigeria and Keystone Bank Plc by members of his family under the official cover of his Presidency.
“No New Year message would be more apt than Mr. President explaining how his family members came about the sum of N1.032 trillion for this scandalous acquisition.
“President Buhari should use his New Year message, if any, to clear the issues of the alleged forgery of his WAEC Certificate, alleged looting of N33 billion meant for the welfare of Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) and the diversion of the repatriated $322 million by agents of his Presidency, under the guise of sharing the fund to the poor
“President Buhari may also wish to use the occasion to provide answers for the false performance claims in his 2019 budget speech that led to his being booed by federal legislators.”
“Moreover, instead of harping on his discredited war against corruption, President Buhari should use his New Year message to explain the whereabouts of the over N11 trillion that disappeared from government coffers under his watch, including the N9 trillion detailed in the leaked memo at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which his administration has refused to account for.”
The PDP urged President Buhari not to “continue to play the saint when his administration has skeletons in its cupboard. He must provide answers to Nigerians. If not, he should not bother sending any New Year message as the nation has moved beyond mere rhetoric, blame-game and false promises, which have been the hallmarks of his administration.”
-GUARDIAN-
