ACN Issues Cease & Desist Order to Gov. Sule Lamido
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has warned Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State over the alleged persecution of Dr. Abubakar Hassan Futala, the Chairman of the party in the state.
The party has therefore vowed to use all legal and constitutional means to stop this alleged political harassment and persecution of its State Chairman.
The ACN, which made this position known at the end of its National Executive Committee meeting on Thursday in Abuja, through its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it can no longer standby and watch Governor Lamido continue to use the police and the courts in Jigawa state to haunt and intimidate Dr. Abubakar Hassan Fulata and members of his family.
The party said the only sin of Dr.Futala was that he testified at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that Sule Lamido did not complete his secondary school education and that although he attended the famous Barewa College in Zaria, he never sat for the West African School Certificate.
It therefore called for an immediately halt to the continued harassment and political persecution of the Jigawa State Chairman of its party, and members of his family saying opposition is meant to make democracy stronger.
Mohammed further stated said that since then, Governor Lamido had "subjected Fulata to unimaginable persecution and harassment a catalogue of which can only find parallel in the Uganda of Idi Amin and Sadam Hussein's Iraq
"For instance on the 9th of June while this matter was still before the Election Petition Tribunal, Dr. Abubakar Fulata was physically attacked with machetes and sticks at the premises of the Election Petition Tribunal by the PDP thugs under the very nose of the police.
"Again on the 26th of June 2011, two days after the Election Petition Tribunal had ruled in favour of Sule Lamido, Dr. Abubakar Fulata was arrested and detained for 'defaming' the character of Lamido whereafter he was remanded in prison for eight days.
"On the 11th of May 2012, notwithstanding a restraining order of a high court, a team of over 50 policemen arrested Dr Abubakar Fulata and detained him at the Jigawa Police Command for three days after which he was charged to court for kidnapping. He spent another three days in prison custody before he temporarily regained his freedom on the 19th of May 2012.
"On the 11th of July 2012, the Dutse High Court inexplicably withdrew its earlier restraining order and Dr. Fulata was promptly declared wanted by the police for arraignment before a Sharia Court and has since then gone into hiding for fear of his life.
"Meanwhile Dr. Abubakar Fulata's wife who is a staff of Jigawa State Government had been evicted out of her official quarters for no reason and his entire family as a result of the constant harassment and persecution have been forced to leave their ancestral home in Dutse." The ACN described the acts of political harassment by the Governor as unconstitutional, unlawful and a gross abuse of power. The opposition party said it had further exposed the Governor "as intolerant, vindictive, despotic, ruthless and unfit to lead a civilised society."