Tinubu, while reacting to the recent disruption of a rally organized by
Save Rivers Movement on Sunday, said it was a coup successfully planned
by Jonathan.
He said instead of encouraging democracy, the
Jonathan administration was now engaged in a fight against the rights of
Nigerians.
The statement, released on Monday by Tinubu’s media aide, Sunday Dare, reads in full:
“The
brutal disruption of the rally organized by the Save Rivers Movement in
Rivers State on Sunday by the CP, Mbu-led police force under the
directive of the Goodluck Jonathan administration adds another dimension
to the dangerous course this government has charted.
“Instead of
assuring liberty and democracy, the Jonathan administration now wars
against human rights and the democratic freedom of the people to select
their own leaders. This represents a sad rush backwards into a past best
left behind. President Jonathan seeks to forfeit our democratic future
to reclaim a dictatorial past.
“The people of Rivers State and of
the Save Rivers Movement did nothing wrong. What the police did was
criminal. The violent and direct attack on Senator Magnus Abe is a
frontal assault against democracy. The Jonathan government, which is
supposed to protect the public order, now constitutes threats against
the very thing they have pledged to uphold. The Police have been
unleashed against the People and the voice of dissent like bloodhounds
against a defenseless, stationary prey.
“What so incensed them that
they felt compelled to shoot and beat unarmed fellow citizens whose only
defense was their voice and whose only offense was their political
affiliation was not of the federal government’s choosing?
“We are now
returning to a time, where having an independent mind or voice is a
criminal offense. So disdainful of the law and its rule, the police no
longer arrest.
“They are primed to shoot first, ask questions
later. We are supposed to live in a constitutional democracy but we are
burdened with a Police Force that has now become an agent provocateur
and a tool of political repression. They are the partisan, strong-arm
division of the Jonathan Presidency.
“The Police are no longer a neutral law enforcement body.
“The
People’s rights to freedom of association, expression and liberty are
constitutionally guaranteed but have been effectively curtailed by the
Jonathan led government. The people have the inalienable right to choose
or associate with any political party of their choice. Sadly, a
Presidency that was a major beneficiary of constitutional democracy
conspires in Abuja in to desecrate our political rights and mortgages
our democracy.
“To voice an opinion or join a political group
contrary to the wishes of Abuja is to place yourself in the crosshairs
of the hired mercenaries and their hired guns. This government doles out
money from the public treasury, not the private pockets of the Abuja
despots, to service hired mercenaries and political thugs. It is a deep
tragedy that the public’s money is being used to employ people and
weapons to shoot at the public. This is the depths of political
immorality.
“If published reports of the incident are true,
the attack on Sen. Magnus Abe, and brutal confrontation with the people
who are first and foremost bonafide citizens of Nigeria and members of
our party, APC is condemnable. It is a harrowing sign of even more
brutal repression that is to come and thus must be denounced.
“The
Jonathan Presidency is willing to sacrifice the lives of countless
Nigerians so that it can continue to lord it over Nigerians. If they
could shoot a current Senator in broad daylight on a Sunday, imagine the
mayhem they will set upon the average citizen seeking to advance his
political rights. This was a premeditated act to squash public dissent
and frighten the rank and file of the political opposition.
“Their
purpose is not to govern Nigeria but to break down the rule of law and
our democratic institutions so that they may own Nigeria. We have seen
this show before.
“The illegal conduct of the Police in Rivers
should be called what it is; uniformed gangsters, a coup against
democracy. The rights and protection guaranteed to the Nigerian people
should never be a function of the party they are affiliated with. Under
the current Jonathan government, we move toward fascism.
“Our
party and our people will employ every lawful means to protect the lives
and rights of every Nigerian in the lawful exercise of their political
rights. Spurred by the fact that one of its own members was shot, the
National Assembly must rise to their statutory responsibility in defence
of the people’s rights and to exercise legislative oversight of an
executive branch, through the police and a Presidency that has lost all
sense of democratic balance and fair play. If the Assembly does not rise
at this junction, things will only worsen and at some point they will
be forced to confront the violent misbehavior of a government intent on
perpetuating itself.
“Better that the assembly act now before so
much harm is done that it becomes irreversible. Let the National
Assembly be seen as coming to the rescue of those who elected them that
they may prove heroic and patriotic at a time such as this.
“All
Nigerians need to set themselves in vocal and sure opposition to the
authoritarian evolution of the Jonathan administration.
“The
International Community should take note of these developments and
counsel this government against the belief that it can continually push
the people against the wall and not expect the people to react. Nigeria
is a democracy and those who would make it something else fight not only
against the will of the people, they fight against the march of our
history. Nigeria’s destiny is the rule of law, justice, fairness and
freedom.
“No wonder, the Jonathan administration is so committed
to marking the amalgamation’s centenary; they want to take the place of
our former overlords. It will not happen. History may sometimes repeat
itself but never does it allow us to make a fool of it.
“No
matter the obstacles our would be emperors may erect, we will have our
democracy. We will have our new Nigeria. We will have our rights and our
freedom.”
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