Former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential
hopeful of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned
against what he described as a consistent pattern of departure from
constitutional due process to tendencies of authoritarianism.
The former vice-president said in a statement marking the
25th anniversary of June 12 that there is a growing culture of arbitrariness in
some of the institutions of government at all levels, which he said is
contradictory to the notion of inclusiveness and fairness that a democratic
society guarantees.
In the statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Atiku
espoused that the very foundation of a democratic society is the guarantee of
fundamental human rights that gives the citizenry the freedom of speech, freedom
of movement and the ability of the people to belong to any lawful association
that they deem inclined.
He noted that it is the exclusive responsibility of
the state through the various security organisations to see to the protection
of these fundamental rights of the people. But it becomes an anathema in a
democracy if institutions of government begin to act in negation of these noble
objectives.
Regarding the recent campaign by youths across the
country against the brutality of the anti-robbery unit of the Nigeria Police,
Atiku noted that up till now there has yet to be a fundamental reform in the
operations of that unit.
"Today, across our major cities and even in
the hinterlands, citizens – especially the youth – can hardly walk freely in
open avenues without the police stopping them to search through the content of
their mobile handsets. Civil servants now lose their jobs just because they
choose to criticize politicians in government positions.
"There are even suggestions in some quarters
that civil servants should be barred from signing to social media networks.
Opposition politicians are regularly being hounded on wanton criminal and civil
prosecutions. All of these narratives have become a consistent pattern of
behavior that is antithetical to an open and democratic society.
"In many of the states across the country,
there is a reign of fascism with governors who have suddenly become overlords
dealing ruthlessly with anyone who dares to challenge their ruthless foothold
of intimidation and oppression.
"Perhaps at this point, we need to remind
ourselves that the democracy which we enjoy today did not come cheap price. It
came at the cost of supreme price paid by persons that included Chief MKO
Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Maj-Gen Shehu Yar’Adua, Chief Alfred Rewane and
Bagauda Kaltho, among thousands of other patriots," he said.
Atiku reminded that democracy isn't merely a
mechanism of appointing a government; its beauty is in the inherent safeguard
to the citizenry to live and prosper as free people under the law.
He enjoined all political actors to let June 12 and
all that it embodies, inspire them to promote democratic principles, especially
as Nigeria is about to go to the polls again.
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