SAN FRANCISCO, January 26, (THEWILL) – A human rights group, the Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence, (FJHRD), on Sunday slammed the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the recent directive by its leadership that its members in the National Assembly should block all executive bills as well as the confirmation of Military Chiefs. This is in a bid to shut down Government at the centre, reminiscent of the US Government shutdown.
The group in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Oghenejabor Ikimi, described the directive as parochial, senseless and an invitation to anarchy, saying the issues that led to a shutdown of Government in the US were based on ideological differences between the Republican Party and the ruling Democratic Party devoid of greed for political power.
The right group said: “We are aware that the reason cited by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress for the above directive, was the Rivers crisis and we are quick to note that the Rivers crisis is devoid of ideological differences or national issues of interest to the ordinary citizen as same is founded on greed for political power ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“We therefore call on members of the All Progressives Congress in the National Assembly to see themselves as legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not as APC legislators by patriotically ignoring the above directive in the interest of national unity, peace and security as any attempt to stall the passage of the 2014 budget or the confirmation of the new Military Chiefs could jeopardise our fragile economy and compromise national security to the detriment of the citizenry.
“We make bold to state that the above directive would not in anyway enhance our democracy as same is capable of truncating our democracy since the directive is not meant to cure any mischief but to incite the military and the civil population against the Federal Government and we like to further state that any political party interested in changing power at the centre must do so through the electoral process.
“Finally, we call on self-seeking politicians to eschew inflammatory statements that are capable of either heating our polity ahead of 2015 general election or truncating our democracy, hence our clarion call to all the actors in the Rivers crisis i.e the Federal Government, the Rivers State Government, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Save Rivers Movement and the incumbent Rivers State Police Commissioner to sheath their respective swords and embrace peace in the polity in the interest of national unity, peace and security.”
