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The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has warned President Goodluck Jonathan against joining the league of despotic leaders Africa would ever produce.
This came on the heels of the invasion of the All Progressives Congress data centre and the arrest of 25 data agents and three security guards by operatives of the State Security Service and soldiers.
The men of the State Security service and soldiers attached to the security unit code-named Operation MESA on Saturday stormed the opposition party data centre in Lagos and ransacked the duplex located on Ajibola Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, and confiscated computer hardware, which contained the data of APC members in several parts of the country.
The DSS had claimed that it acted on a tip-off that the centre was allegedly being used by the party to clone Independent National Electoral Commission Permanent Voter Cards, with the intention of hacking into INEC database and replacing them with its own.
Reacting to the invasion, the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, who noted that the PDP-led FG is gradually gliding into abyss of despotism, warned that the use of brute force to suppress is reprehensible
“All these security agencies have been giving only one excuse that they acted on intelligence report that cannot be substantiated. That is the same thing they said when they invaded the National Assembly. Even if they had the intelligence report, they ought to have gotten their facts right before they invaded the building. They didn’t have to break into houses when they were not sure the information they had was correct. That is brigandage! Every action of our security agencies seem to be in the defence of the status quo against their opposition. It is unfortunate that the ruling party that controls the police and other security apparata is gliding rapidly into abyss of despotism. A situation whereby security agencies are only protecting the rulers against the ruled is preposterous.
The other time it was seven Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers of Ekiti State House of assembly, guided by the men of the Nigeria Police Force that impeached their Speaker despite the Speaker having 18 members of the House on his side. What happened in Ekiti State must have led to what happened at the National Assembly. If the suspicion that the section of the National Assembly that was locked out could have been impeached if they didn’t scale the fence into the house, they would have been forced into taking reactive action instead of being proactive after all of them like it happened in Ekiti State, might have been impeached.
As it is, it wouldn’t have matters whether those who impeach them were minority or majority because impunity seems to have been given the status of fundamental and directive principles of the ruling class, which is unacceptable in a normal democratic setting where we believe the wish of the majority of the people, not the reverse, should be sacrosanct and the principle or doctrine of the separation of powers, and checks and balances should be sine qua non.
Basically, the Federal Government trying to decimate the opposing views through the use of brute force is reprehensible. A politics that does not allow opposition is despotic; and from all intents and purposes the present regime has demonstrated that. If truly the opposition has done anything wrong, President Jonathan has all the powers, within the ambit of extant laws, to deal with any situation like that.
It must be noted that if the FG is taking a lead in the way that brigands behave, Nigerians may lose the trust in the capacity of its defence and security system to ensure their welfare, safety and security; and therefore may start taking laws into their hands which would lead to a state of anarchy”, Adeniran averred.
Abimbola Adegoke
Media Officer, CACOL
24 November, 2014
