Emergency Powers: PDP Wants N’ Assembly to Reject Buhari’s ‘Authoritarian’ Demand

By Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ekiti chapter, has described the plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to seek emergency powers from theNational Assembly to handle the nation’s economy as an alleged authoritarian demand that would further breed dictatorship in the country.

The PDP noted that such a demand is an indication that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is incapable of delivering on its promises, and seeking excuses for its poor performance and ways to hold the people of the country by their throats using state powers.

The PDP, in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Mr Jackson Adebayo, in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday , said Buhari was also seeking a means of putting on a dictatorial garment in a democratic setting.

“Is it not dastardly for the president to say he is seeking emergency powers for his administration to handle the nation’s economy? Then, what are the duties of those in the Finance Ministry and other sectors involved in the day-to-day running and management of the economy? If they are unproductive, why not send them away.

“The National Assembly, a few months ago, urged the president to look beyond the APC in getting those to handle the economy, but he did not listen. With the emergency powers he is seeking, will he now begin to dip into people’s accounts and assets to get money to finance government’s projects?,” the PDP asked.

The party maintained that it was a strange development that a president would want to go outside the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to address any issue confronting the country instead of looking inward and bringing experts who would tackle the problem within the precinct of the rule of law as provided for by the constitution.

According to the party, the present situation was witnessed in the Second Republic when most of the states then used to receive zero allocation from the Federal Government, yet the President then didn’t throw away the constitution to solve the problem, but rather constituted proactive economic team that brought the situation under control before the then General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the government and dismantled the process to usher in more hardship on Nigerians.