Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi is appalled by the news coming out of Ekiti State, which reports that not only were members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) denied their constitutionally guaranteed rights of assembly, but that also, in the process, Governor Ayodele Fayose and his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola Eleka, who happens to be the party’s candidate in the forthcoming election, were physically assaulted and injured by the police.
Senator Makarfi is pained by this brazen infringement on the individual and collective rights of the people as enshrined in our constitution and considers it an assault not only on Governor Ayo Fayose and the PDP, but also a knife through the heart of the nation’s democracy, by an agency of state that is funded to protect those rights amongst other functions.
As we approach 2019 elections, these signals are ominous as they portend a tendency towards desperation and the proclivity to deploy instruments of state towards the attainment of a predetermined agenda.
Situations such as this bring into sharper focus, Senator Makarfi’s arguments and appeals, with respect to restructuring the country, that we also consider restructuring our institutions in such a way that they are insulated from political control to enable them serve the state as opposed to serving political leaders of the time, which is what obtains at the moment.
The Senator appeals to the police and other security agencies to operate above the fray to inspire the confidence of all in heir neutrality. He also appeals to the government of the day to rise to the occasion by providing a level playing field in the Ekiti and subsequent elections to ensure the development of democracy and rule of law, as not only Nigerians, but also the entire world is watching with interest, how situations unfold as the days go by.
Signed
Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo
