Nigeria Sliding Into Authoritarianism, Ekweremadu Warns

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has described the alleged lopsidedness in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft war as a deliberate attempt to silence the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the country.

Ekweremadu who has repeatedly attacked Buhari over his alleged lopsided anti-corruption crusade, also warned against the total disregard for the rule of law under the guise of anti-corruption war.

Senator Ekweremadu who reaffirmed the PDP’s support for a genuine anti-graft crusade, however, decried a situation where such becomes a calculated attempt to decimate and silence the opposition, while members of the ruling party, APC, with serious corruption allegations go about their businesses.

Speaking against the backdrop of the continued detention of the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, Senator Ekweremadu expressed fear that Nigeria was fast descending into authoritarianism.

He said the continued detention of the PDP spokesman was an attempt to gag the opposition and therefore unhealthy for the nation’s democracy.

Warning against the corruption of the anti-corruption war, he said: “An anti-graft trap that catches only members of the opposition and those with axe to grind with the government of the day is compromised”.

He called on the nation to denounce and resist the prevailing situation where people are held in custody against the directives of the courts and laws of the land, insisting that there would be no justice without the rule of law.