Wike, Ortom condemn invasion of National Assembly

Say Nigeria is sliding into dictatorship

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said that the siege on the National Assembly by the police and Department of State Services (DSS) is a pointer that Nigeria is sliding into dictatorship.

Wike said Nigerians must rise up and resist all attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government from plunging the country into chaos.The governor declared that the assault on the National Assembly by security operatives on the purported order of the Federal Government is condemnable and has the capacity to truncate the nation’s democracy.

According to Wike, “All well-meaning Nigerians should stand up against this dictatorship. All over the world, this has never happened. Nigerians should not stand aloof and watch what is going on. This will consume so many people if we don’t rise against it.”

Also, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has condemned the invasion, urging all patriots to resist what he described as impunity. Ortom, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said the action of the security operatives had made the country a laughing stock in the comity of nations and capable of degenerating into lawlessness.

“I condemn police invasion of the National Assembly and urge patriotic Nigerians to reject this impunity, which is an assault on our democracy. We cannot afford to remain the laughing stock of the world,” he stated.

Wike, who urged lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to stand firmly in unison in defence of the nation’s democracy, castigated some state governors for expressing delight in the anti-democratic plots of the APC. Federal Government. He said what happened today could affect them in future.

Ortom, who described the action of the security agencies as an infringement on the fundamental right of freedom of association of Nigerians, however, noted that though the Presidency denied any role in the Benue saga but it did not follow up with any sanction for those responsible, thus making the denial suspicious.

Meanwhile, former President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, said: “One consequence of the reported sack of the DSS DG is that the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has made it clear that the siege of the National Assembly today was without his approval.

“The phrase ‘Orders from above’ did not mean that he authorised the siege. As a pastor and a law professor as well as a Senior Advocate, he knows that he must wash his hands on this matter. But the real issue will come when Buhari must choose between the Acting President and the DG of DSS. The cabal is very well entrenched in the kitchen cabinet of the President. The Vice President is probably not a member of the kitchen cabinet. He may be regarded as a spare tyre but as acting president, he has taken a position that is contrary to the ambition and the trappings of the power of the cabal. Time will tell.”