My Open Letter To The Good People Of Ekiti State
I read in the news that some of you were deceived into staging a protest against the strong opposition voice to the current Federal Government. I sincerely believe that the protesters were hired with the aim of not only destabilising the state but also to whip up public sentiments . I have decided to write this letter to all who can listen.
Ayodele Fayose is being persecuted for his opposition to the APC government. What type of democracy are we practising where every opposition is clamped down? Protesters these days are shot and survivors are charged with possession of arms that never existed. People are constantly made to believe that the current government is fighting corruption when actually political opponents are being clamped down.
The same people that hoodwinked us during their campaign that there was nothing like fuel subsidy finally removed the subsidy just few months of assuming office, raising the petrol pump price of fuel from N87.50k to N145. I am yet to see the gains for such an increment. Last administration used their proceeds from such increment to establish SURE-P but we are yet to see what comes out from the increment by this APC administration.
Anybody that opposes the government is linked to the arms deal. The person will remain in custody even when there are court injunctions. Every other opposition has remained silent to avoid being linked to arms deal. Fani Kayode is still in custody and others like Nnamdi Kanu and Sambo Dasuki. Who knows if I will be invited by DSS for airing my view and be charged with treasonable felony? How can our country be moved to another level if there is no vibrant opposition?
The same opposition that brought this government in power is what the APC led Federal Government is hell-bent on eliminating. Good minded people like me can never keep quiet when issues like this are being discussed. Section 308 exonerates a sitting governor and president and deputy/vice from civil and criminal prosecutions but APC led federal government through EFCC is telling us otherwise. The only safety a leader has in Nigeria now is being in APC. Very soon , Nigeria will become a one party system.
They promised jobs to our teeming youths during the campaign but today workers are constantly being dismissed due to harsh economic policies the present government brought in. They made us believe that the last administration was corrupt but the cost of living then was low and now that saints are in power, Nigerian citizens are gnashing their teeth.
A minister was recently indicted by a panel of enquiry in the state he just finished as the state governor but 'immunity' covers him when immunity does not cover a sitting governor or his assets. That was how I told them in my previous write-ups that the use of electronic card readers was against section 52 of the Electoral Act, APC lawyers came out then to hoodwink us that it was not true even when elementary physics taught that anything that makes use of electrons are electronic. I thank God that governor Wike 's Supreme Court victory vindicated me.
They have been in the blaming game, making Nigerians to know that what Nigerians are suffering now is due to 16 years of PDP misrule, I then ask, shouldn’t they just hand over to PDP leaders to continue their misrule where fuel will be sold to the common Nigerian at N87.50k per litre, where oppositions will be allowed to thrive, where right to freedom of speech will not only be on books but also in practice. They have forgotten how PDP government took over the country in 1999 after many years of military exploitation.
Today, 'black and white' televisions have disappeared in all homes courtesy of the same PDP government they now want us to believe they are corrupt. Owning of household gadgets is no longer difficulty since PDP came into power in 1999 and many people that never had cars found it easier to buy cars, what do we have today, dollars and other hard currencies are rising to discourage importation of foreign goods, without making any provisions for import-substituting industries. It is a matter of time, Nigerians will decide which government is clueless, PDP administration or current APC government.
I read in the news that the lawyer pursuing Mr president's certificate issue may soon be charged for discussing the matter before a court outside the court, when the same government has been discussing Sambo Dasuki's arms deal, Nnamdi Kanu's case and those of other of their 'victims ' pending before different courts, on the pages of newspapers. Jonathan allowed opposition to thrive hence APC was formed but today, any state government or local government outside APC is guilty and the anti-graft agencies will clamp down on the state with all sorts of charges.
They started by arresting Ekiti State lawmakers, believing that Ayodele Fayose could be impeached through cowing his lawmakers, reminiscing the late DSP Alamieseigha style but Fayose is unperturbed. Now, it is to whip up public sentiments so that the people of Ekiti State will hate their governor. I enjoin the people of Ekiti State to see beyond the present shenanigans. If they have anything against a sitting governor, let the court resolve it, the APC led government should allow the court to decide.
At least I still believe in the sanctity and incorruptibility of our judicial system. See our National Assembly, they are out to clamp on Saraki. If Saraki survives the asset declaration issue in Code of Conduct Tribunal, he will be ensnared with the recently commenced forgery charge. What was Saraki's offence if not that he went against APC's plan to emerge as the senate president? When I read where it was reported that Saraki's trial would be on daily basis and that it would start in the morning till evening, I laughed because the target was to ensure that Saraki would not meet the minimum number of attendance required in the plenary hence his impeachment would commence but that failed.
The next was forgery suit so that both Saraki and Ekweremadu would be out of the plenary to pave way for impeachment and you tell me to keep quiet. Instead of thinking of how to fix our rapidly-deteriorating economy, the present APC government is busy planning how to deal with the opposition. They either blame the past PDP administration or the falling international oil prices any time things go wrong.
When in 2008 or thereabout, there was a global economic meltdown, the then PDP-led Federal Government fixed the economy for us and they cushioned the effects of such hence the citizens never felt it but what do we see today, even the blind can see that the current APC administration has no policy or plan to cushion the effects of such fall in international oil price rather the government is poised to make life more difficult for the citizenry by increasing the petrol pump price without increasing the minimum wage.
The alleged corrupt PDP government handed an African largest economy to this APC government, I don't know our current ranking. All I have to tell the protesters in Ekiti State is for them to look beyond the shenanigans. Will this current government ever tell you that Sambo Dasuki played a major role in the arrest of Mr President after his military regime was toppled? Will they tell you that opposition from Nnamdi Kanu, Fani Kayode, Fayose etc is landing them into charges ranging from corruption to treasonable felony?
Of course they won’t! My last word for the good people of Ekiti will be to repeat the words of late Sam Mbakwe, who said that a fool once is not a fool but a fool twice is the real fool. Ekiti people, this is the time to take your destinies in your hands. Don’t be deceived into fighting your governor who happens to be the only man standing in opposition to the federal government .If they have any charge against him ,let them wait for him to finish his tenure in 2018.
Dr. Paul John
Port Harcourt, Rivers state, [email protected],08083658038