A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi
Frank, has lamented the worsening cases of corruption, battered economy,
killings, hunger and injustice under the current administration.
While tendering an apology to the former President, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, Frank said Jonathan was largely misunderstood and that his
good nature was taken for weakness by those who maligned him and pushed hard to
remove him from office.
"I would first of all like to use this
opportunity to formally apologise to the immediate past President of Nigeria,
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for all the tantrums and mistreatment orchestrated
by me against his person while he held sway at the helm of affairs of our great
country," he said.
Frank, who is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary
of APC, in the open letter released at the weekend in Abuja, titled: ‘Open
letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on the state of the nation’, said the
present government has shown total disdain for court pronouncements and the
enforcement of fundamental human rights of citizens.
He regretted that having voted out President Jonathan, it is
now crystal clear that the change that was clamoured for is not the change we
got.
In his letter to Buhari, Frank said: "Under
your tenure, the rule of law has been replaced with the rule of force. You have
injected fear into the society. People who voted for you to save them from
corruption and ineptitude have been barred from speaking up against the myriads
of evil and wicked acts being perpetrated by officials in your government.
"Unfortunately, corruption is in the upward
swing under your watch. This is why I had to apologise to Jonathan since events
of the last three years have shown the former President was a better leader.
People freely expressed themselves under Jonathan's administration without fear
of being branded cultists' sponsors, gunrunners or aiding murderers, but not so
in this administration.
"In Jonathan’s government, Nigerians enjoyed
freedom of speech, association and right to hold dissenting views, including
organising and partaking in protests against unwelcome government policies. All
these are no go areas today. “Does it mean Jonathan was a better democrat? It is
a fact that no member of the APC which was then in the opposition before 2015
was jailed or harassed for expressing dissent.
"However, under this administration, the
Senate president is being persecuted, Senator Dino Melaye has been arrested and
detained like a common criminal, Senator Matthew Urhroghide had been attached for
telling Nigerians that the federal government breached the constitution by
paying the sum of $496million for 12 Tucano fighter jets without the National
Assembly approval; the trial of Senator Isa Misau by the AGF over his face-off
with the Inspector General of Police(IG), the persecution of most members of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the name of fighting corruption are all
examples of intolerance in this administration.
"Mr. President, while your fight against
corruption is being promoted as gathering steam leading to an award given to
you by the African Union (AU) recently, the allegation of illegal award of
$25billion contracts leveled against the Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has not been investigated,
rather the malfeasance and shoddy dealing in the NNPC has been swept under the
carpet because as the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, any probe of
the agency would require that you make some explanations."
While urging Nigerians to wake up and face the
current realities "and save Nigeria from total collapse under the
jackboots of impunity by this administration, the Bayelsa State-born politician
said: "History will not be fair to him if he had championed the campaigns
against President Jonathan and now remain silent in the face of anti-democratic
tendencies and sheer impunity going on now."
Frank said instead of enhancing freedom and rule of
law, our democratic gains are being frittered away under the pretext of
fighting corruption, adding that rights to freedom of speech and association
are increasingly being denied.
He noted that the statement credited to former Minister of
Defence, Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (rtd), came as another rude shock to Nigerians on
the state of our security architecture in the country.
In the same vein, Frank reminded President Buhari about statements
attributed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida,
reemphasizing that the government under his watch has failed Nigerians.
"People can no longer freely express themselves
without security agencies harassing, accusing, arresting, parading, and
prosecuting them like common criminals over spurious allegations.
"I dare say that I am by this letter offering myself
to pay whatever price it will take for Nigeria to be free once again. I know
your goons will soon come after me but I am not bothered a bit. I will continue
to speak the truth. I spoke the truth when Jonathan, my kinsman, was in power
and I will continue to speak the truth. Be that as it may, the truth is that
you have destroyed our democracy so much so that Nigerians are now living in
fear," he said.
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