A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank, has written
another open letter to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Mr Antonio Guterres, alleging
that the administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari, has been persecuting some perceived to
oppose the government.
It was gathered that those mentioned in the letter include Senate
President Bukola Saraki, Senator Dino Melaye, Kwara state
governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, among others.
The open letter released on Monday and titled “Persecution of
Saraki and its implications for democracy” was routed through the
UN High-Level Representative to Nigeria.
According to Frank, who is also the Deputy National Publicity
Secretary of APC, the political scenario in Nigeria and the
highhandedness of the executive and its agents against law-
abiding Nigerians is becoming unbearable and unless something is
done urgently to salvage the situation, “our hard earned
democracy will be plagued by disaster of unimaginable proportion.
“Only yesterday, the police, not tired of subterfuge came up with
bizarre claims that robbery suspects arrested in connection with
the Offa Bank robbery have implicated the President of the Senate,
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“Recall that Saraki had two weeks ago raised an alarm about the
directive from the Force Headquarters to transfer cultists and
murder suspects arrested and being prosecuted in Ilorin, Kwara
State, to Abuja, in a bid to tutor them to implicate him and the
governor of the State, Abdulfatah Ahmed.
“Following the uproar, the police became silent for a while and
have now decided to use the Offa robbery suspects to achieve
their sinister goal against the President of the Senate.
“I want you to note that the police on this occasion have not said
anything new. What they wanted to achieve through the
surreptitious transfer of arrested cultists and murder suspects from
Ilorin to Abuja, they have now achieved through the Offa bank
robbery suspects. Unfortunately, the President has not deemed it
fit to call his stray agents to order in spite of the formal report on
the issue made to him by a panel set up by the Senate following
the alarm raised by Saraki on the impending fraudulent indictment
about two weeks ago.”
The Bayelsa born young politician, however, called on the leaders
of the G-7 nations to intervene to prevent what he called “looming
catastrophe in Nigeria.
“I believe that prevention would be better than cure in this case
because if highly placed Nigerians like the President of the Senate
are being made to undergo these indignities, then there is no hope
for democracy and rule of law which is about the preservation,
welfare and protection of the common man. The country is dire
political straits and we need your timely intervention to restore
peace rule of law.”
Below is the letter obtained by PoliticsNGR;
OPEN LETTER TO THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
Mr Antonio Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Thru: The UN High-Level Representative to Nigeria
U. N. Building, Plot 617/618, Diplomatic Drive
Central Business District
Abuja – FCT.
Dear sir,
PERSECUTION OF SARAKI AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR DEMOCRACY
I write to update you on the increasing political intolerance, terror
and persecution being unleashed against perceived opponents of
the present administration in Nigeria-led by President Muhammadu
Buhari and to seek your urgent intervention to prevent an imminent
breakdown of law and order capable of truncating the nation’s
democracy.
Recall that last week, I wrote a similar letter to the President of
the United States, Donald Trump, on the need for the international
community to save Nigeria from the current political terror against
highly placed and innocent Nigerians as the country approaches
the 2019 general elections which is about nine months away.
The political scenario is Nigeria and the highhandedness of the
executive and its agents against law abiding Nigerians is
becoming unbearable and unless something is done urgently to
salvage the situation, our hard earned democracy will be plagued
by disaster of unimaginable proportion. This call is premised on
the old wise saying that a stitch in time, saves nine.
Today, the entire country is in a dilemma. While terrorists,
insurgents and other criminal elements are having a field day in
many parts of the country, citizens are also being framed-up and
hounded by security agencies on the direct orders of the executive
in order to retain power. The police that is supposed to protect the
people is being used as an instrument of intimidation and brutality
against law abiding citizens. I don’t think I need to recount the
ongoing ordeal of Senator Dino Melaye because his humiliation
and persecution by the agents of state is known even to the little
children. I don’t also consider it necessary to refer to the frame-
up of Senator Shehu Sani as having links with murder suspects in
Kaduna. The incessant arrest of opposition PDP members would
take an entire page of this write-up were I to chronicle them.
Only yesterday, the police, not tired of subterfuge came up with
bizarre claims that robbery suspects arrested in connection with
the Offa Bank robbery have implicated the President of the Senate,
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki. Recall that Saraki had two weeks ago
raised an alarm about the directive from the Force Headquarters
to transfer cultists and murder suspects arrested and being
prosecuted in Ilorin, Kwara State, to Abuja, in a bid to tutor them
to implicate him and the governor of the State, Abdulfatah Ahmed.
Following the uproar, the police became silent for a while and have
now decided to use the Offa robbery suspects to achieve their
sinister goal against the President of the Senate.
I want you to note that the police on this occasion have not said
anything new. What they wanted to achieve through the
surreptitious transfer of arrested cultists and murder suspects from
Ilorin to Abuja, they have now achieved through the Offa bank
robbery suspects. Unfortunately, the President has not deemed it
fit to call his stray agents to order in spite of the formal report on
the issue made to him by a panel set up by the Senate following
the alarm raised by Saraki on the impending fraudulent indictment
about two weeks ago.
I dare say that the President of the Senate is a man of integrity
and high moral standing. Apart from his noble parentage, he has
held several positions of trust in the private and public sectors of
the economy. Some being his directorship of a bank, special
assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on budget
matters, two time Governor of Kwara State, Senator and now
President of the Senate. He is also a major player in the global
arena as a former President of Globe Nigeria and other
international engagements. Over the years, his character has
remained untainted and his reputation solid. Even under the last
administration where he played a pivotal opposition role, all efforts
to implicate him failed as several investigations raised against him
found him blameless.
Unfortunately, the present government has been out to bring him
down by all means since the inception of this administration. He is
currently facing trial on allegation of false asset declaration. He
was accused along side his deputy of forging the Senate rules – a
case that later collapsed following the inability of the government
to concoct plausible evidence against them in court. The recent
efforts by government to get him at all cost has led to blatant lies,
harassment, intimidation and blackmail to damage his reputation
and paint him black before the eyes of right thinking members of
the public. The goal of the government is to make political capital
out his anticipated fall and reap bounteously from the sordid
enterprise in the 2019 general elections.
Permit me to say that Saraki remains a credible and responsible
Nigerian and my call is not to say that he is above the law. If
there is any genuine reason that would warrant him to account for
any of his actions, I believe he will gladly do so as a law abiding
citizen. However, using gestapo tactics to blackmail and try to
hang a criminal charge on him would be tantamount to
wickedness, repression and dictatorship. If they have anything
against him, let them follow due process according to law. I
believe that as a man who respects and believes in the rule of law,
Saraki is at anytime ready to defend himself before a court of
competent jurisdiction just like he has been faithful in doing same
before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). There is a rising
apprehension among the vast majority of Nigerians that if this
atmosphere of intimidation being unleashed against the opposition
in the country is allowed to continue unchecked, our democracy
might suffer an incalculable damage and irreparable crash. God
forbid!
My joy is that you are well aware of these evil antics playing out
in Nigeria and their implication for peace, unity, order, good
governance and the rule of law in the most populous black nation
in the world. What I am not sure of is your reaction to the
incessant human rights abuses, harassment of opposition
members and the covert forceful persecution of well placed
Nigerians in order to get them to support the reelection bid of
President Buhari, against their will.
I therefore call on you and the leaders of the G-7 nations to
intervene to prevent this looming catastrophe in Nigeria. I believe
that prevention would be better than cure in this case because if
highly placed Nigerians like the President of the Senate are being
made to undergo these indignities, then there is no hope for
democracy and rule of law which is about the preservation, welfare
and protection of the common man. The country is dire political
straits and we need your timely intervention to restore peace rule
of law.
Yours sincerely,
Comrade Timi Frank
Deputy National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress
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