I’ll Continue to Speak against Injustice, Maladministration, Vows Abaribe

By Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia

Fresh from detention, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe returned to his constituency and vowed that no amount of intimidation would make him keep quiet in the face of injustice and maladministration in the land.

Senator Abaribe gave the assurance that he would not stop to speak truth to the Muhammadu Buhari administration while addressing his constituents at Aba where two receptions were organised to welcome him back from detention and to commend him for his courage in speaking truth to the powers that be.

“We will not keep quiet. We will talk to make sure that Nigeria is safe for everybody,” he said, adding, “I cannot see a situation where the security apparatus of this country is in the hands of a section of the country and I will keep quiet. I must talk”.

The Senator, who represents Abia South in the National Assembly, had touched down at the Sam Mbakwe Airport Owerri where he was welcomed by a huge crowd of supporters.

He then drove in a long convoy to the commercial city of Aba where he addressed his constituents at two different reception venues, first at Aba South local government headquarters and at CS Park where a socio-political group, Aba South Peoples Assembly received him.

The fiery Senator said he was happy to be received by the people, which according to him was a sign that he was representing them well. He expressed deep appreciation to all Nigerians across every divide that stood by him during his travails by praying and pressurising the federal government to let him go, adding that the media played a pivotal role in fighting for his freedom.

Defiant as ever, Abaribe lamented that the Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had decided to hunt down all those that speak the truth, pointing out that the nation was in for “a very difficult situation” with a very intolerant APC government.

He lambasted the presidency for its inability to rein the rampaging herdsmen who had been allowed to have a free day killing people with impunity.

“The usual response(by the presidency) after every spate of killings is ‘I will bring the perpetrators to book,” he said, adding that the presidency had further betrayed Nigerians and abandoned them at the mercy of killer herdsmen by telling the people that it was better to give out their lands than dying.

“How can I keep quiet when people are being killed; how can I keep quiet when there are no jobs for youths? How can I keep quiet when there is injustice and marginalisation?,” he asked.

Abaribe explained that he was propelled to stand with the people and confront “a vicious government” because of his love for Nigeria, saying, “I am a patriot and what makes a patriot is to stand by your country”.

Describing the ruling APC as “All Promises Cancelled” party, Abaribe said that the government had become very intolerant of the opposing views as it continues to churn out lies to cover its ineptitude.

“What APC government wants to do is to take everybody out of circulation,” he warned, adding that all patriotic Nigerians must rise up against the autocratic tendency of the Buhari administration.

He advised APC to learn from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) how to run a tolerant administration, pointing out that the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was inundated with all manners of criticism and name calling yet he tolerated everything without hunting down his critics.

Speaking with journalists later, Senator Abaribe said that he was arrested and detained by the Department of State Security (DSS) because the Presidency had accused him of sponsoring the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) just because he signed a bail bond for its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

However, he stated that the federal authorities had not been able to substantiate their claims even after his house was searched by the operatives of DSS, adding that he was yet to hear from his traducers again after his release since they did not find any incriminating evidence.

Senator Abaribe therefore called on Nigerians to make a point of duty to ensure that Buhari was not allowed to continue in office at the expiration of his present tenure in 2019 having manifested his incapability to run the affairs of a modern democratic Nigerian nation.

“I’m telling Nigerians; get your PVC (permanent voter cards) so that we can use it to vote out the bad APC government,” he said.