Former vice
president and member of the new faction of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Inspector General of Police,
Mohammed Abubakar, to order his officers to vacate the party’s factional
headquarters immediately.
Mr.
Abubakar, who is currently leading a private economic trade mission to
China at the invitation of that country’s government, declared in a
statement on Monday that the invasion had no justification in law, but
was rather borne out of political control.
The police had on Saturday cordoned off the headquarters of the splinter PDP located in the Maitama District of Abuja.
The
former vice president, accompanied by seven governors and other top PDP
leaders had announced the birth of the factional group on August 31
Abuja.
“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,” Mr. Atiku said.
The former vice president noted
further that, “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’s office?”
“I call on the leadership of
the Nigerian 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.”
Mr. Atiku said it was embarrassing
that in a week when a top Christian clergy, top lawyer and senior
advocate and countless others were being held captive by kidnappers, the
Nigeria Police could muster the resources to seal the headquarters of
his PDP faction in negation of a court order.
According to him,
“further, a politically partisan police force sets a dangerous
precedent, as they will be entrusted to supervise free and fair
elections in the future.”
By the latest behaviour of the police,
the former Vice President stressed, the Inspector-General of Police had
put a big question mark on his sincerity to reform the police.
He
accused the police chief of starting on the wrong foot by being ‘openly
and overzealously partisan’ over the internal crisis of the PDP.
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