FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, told the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed D. Abubakar, to order his men to vacate the office of the ‘new PDP’ in Abuja immediately.
On Saturday, officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) sealed the office, allegedly on a court order but the National Secretary of the ‘new PDP’, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said the ‘invasion’ of the office was a clear violation of the court order.
Atiku is in China on a business trip.
In the statement which he personally signed, the former presidential candidate said: “While it is embarrassing that the police have yet to give a reason on why they are laying siege to a political party office, the whole world knows these are acts prompted by unscrupulous politicians who do not even have the moral conscience not to involve the police in politics.”
“This goes to the root of the current crisis within the PDP: priorities. What does it say to our citizens, who live daily with the fear of violence and kidnappings, that our police priority is raiding a political party office?
“I call on the leadership of the Nigeria Police, especially its Inspector General, to steer clear of political entanglements, and immediately vacate our party offices. Our national law enforcement priority must be the safety and security of Nigerians, not politics.”
“Further, a politically-partisan police force sets a dangerous precedent, as they will be entrusted to supervise free and fair elections in the future,” he said.
