Buhari’s trip: APC, Presidency foisting authoritarian system – PDP 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Presidency were not interested in governance but seeking to vacate the 1999 Constitution to foist an authoritarian system on the nation.

The party said President Muhammadu Buhari’s private trip to the UK without transmitting power as required by the Nigerian Constitution is an act of dereliction.

The PDP, in a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said “abandoning governance” at a critical time the nation was facing serious security and economic challenges was an indication that Nigerians would experience high level of impunity and recklessness in governance for four more years.

“What else, beside an authoritarian propensity, can you explain why the Buhari Presidency relegated our Constitutional Order by declaring the application of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which directs that the President transmits power whenever he is travelling out of the country on vacation, as a mere ‘convention.’

“Authoritarian tendencies are usually characterized by absolute lack of trust on other government functionaries, which could likely explain the failure to transmit power to the Vice President. Such proclivity can also lead to a sequestering of institutions of government, if not checked.

“The import of this relegation of Section 145 is also a clear absence of a constitutional command structure which leaves our nation at the mercy of the extremely corrupt, vicious and anti-people cabal with whom President Buhari presided over the most corrupt and most incompetent administration, which wrecked our economy, divided our nation and opened her up for escalated insecurity.

“Our nation, is in dire need of a legitimate, people-oriented, responsible and responsive government that will foster respect for rule of law as well as due regard to other arms and institutions of government, particularly the judiciary and the legislature, in ensuring the general wellbeing and security of all Nigerians,” the PDP said.