President Muhammadu Buhari gave a warning on Monday to anyone planning to snatch ballot box or to disrupt the forthcoming election will be doing so at the risk of their lives.
Since President Buhari made the pronouncement there had been outcries from the main opposition camp, PDP against it.
The Constitution, however, provides for instances where a person could be shot and killed lawfully (especially in self-defence) by state officials though lawyers argue this is not a defence for President Buhari’s comments in a tense political season.
Fireworks
On Tuesday while appearing on Channels TV Politics Today programme, Mr Melaye compared Mr Buhari with the late African dictator, Idi Amin, and asked the president to apologise to Nigerians for issuing the death threat.
“I am utterly disappointed in my president. I am completely in shock that in a democratic setting, a president will speak with the anointing of Idi Amin of Uganda, the president will use the word ‘ruthless’, the president will order killings of Nigerians without going through legal procedures. That is totally unacceptable.
“I expected that by now the president should have apologised to Nigerians and withdrawn that statement but instead there has been a lot of efforts, ‘boxing the wind’ by chieftains of the APC, trying to defend what is not defensible,” the senator said.
Reacting to this, an enraged Mr Keyamo said the president spoke appropriately adding that he (Keyamo) would urge Mr Buhari to “say the statement over and over again.”
”Ballot box snatching is robbery. Ballot box snatching is armed robbery. Ballot box snatching is thwarting the will of the people. Ballot box snatching is changing a government by force, It’s treason. All are punishable by death.”
The two, in defending their respective principals and parties, then went on personal attacks on each other and the two main presidential candidates. The presenter, Seun Okinbaloye, had to intermittently sue for peace during the charged session.
The presidential election was postponed last Saturday to February 23 after the electoral commission cited some logistics challenges. The governorship election is expected to come up on March 9, 2019.
www.sojworld.com (c) February 20, 2019
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