Police Working To Destroy Democracy In Plateau State –APC, PDP.
……..Demand Unsealing Of Assembly Complex.
The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, on Wednesday, condemned the Plateau State Police Command over the sealing of the state House of Assembly complex.
The Police has been accused of working to destroy democracy in Plateau State. Interviews held with both parties in Jos revealed that there are demands for immediate unsealing of the Assembly complex to allow legislators to perform their functions. A report by PUNCH revealed.
The Plateau State House of Assembly was for the last three weeks placed under lock and key following the order of the police high command whose personnel manned the Assembly complex daily.
According to the police, the Assembly complex was forcefully sealer to forestall a breakdown of law and order as a result of the leadership crisis rocking the Assembly.
The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, John Akans, on Wednesday however said, “As a party, we are monitoring the situation with keen interest. We are made to understand that the state Commissioner of Police has taken sides with the state government to seal the Assembly for no justifiable reason.
“We are consulting with our lawyers to know where the Commissioner of Police derives his powers to stop the function of another arm of the government, which is the legislature. He should explain to the Plateau people why he has chosen to destroy democratic practice in the state. Ordinarily, the CP has no constitutional right to do that because what is available to us as a party is a declaratory judgement reinstating Ayuba as the legitimate speaker of the State Assembly.
In the same vein, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Sylvanus Namang, berated the police and asked for the immediate unsealing of the Plateau Assembly to enable the lawmakers to perform their constitutional duties.
Namang said, “What is happening at the Plateau Assembly is unfair to the people. Our position as a party is that the state Assembly should be unsealed by the police. Does it mean that anyone can issue a threat and you lock the place?
“The action of the police is not telling well about the state. But as far as we are concerned, Rt Honourable Yakubu Sanda is the authentic Speaker of the State Assembly and will remain so until the end of their tenure in June. We are appealing to the police to once again unseal the Assembly complex and protect those who are ready to do their work as lawmakers.”
But when contacted, the spokesman for the police command, DSP Alfred Alabo, said, “Let them (APC and PDP) say whatever they want but as far as we are concerned, our presence at the state House of Assembly is purely for security reasons.
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