By Christiana Ekpa
A member of the House of Representatives, represening Ibi/Wukari Federal Constituency of Taraba State, Hon. Usman Danjuma Shidi has said accused the State Governor, Darius Ishaku of threatening the democratic order in the state by stifling opposition using both the security and the courts to unjustly hound and persecute political opponents ahead of the 2023 general election.
The Lawmaker who stated this at a Media briefing on Thursday in Abuja alleged that the Governor ordered the arrest of the Director-General of his campaign for Senatorial election, Hon.Sumaila Yakubu, saying that the government of the state has emasculated opposition voices in the state politics.
Shidi who is currently the Chairman House Committee on Internal Security, said that he is the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senatorial candidate for Southern Senatorial District of the State, a seat which the governor is also vying for under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He further stated that “the governor is by his actions trying to destroy democracy and bring about the collapse of his home state due to electoral contest.”
He said that the DG who is a renowned politician during a rally was bundled into vehicle and taken to Takum LGA by the governor’s aides acting on his instructions, adding that a bail bond of N50 million had been placed on him.
In his words: “The governor is the one that ordered the arrest of my campaign director-general in the ongoing campaigns by the party in the senatorial zone.
“He was simply addressing our supporters in Takum town to remain calm because the PDP on the orders of the governor removed all our posters and billboards. But the state government is now interesting that as inciting violence and ordered for his arrest.
“He was beaten by the police and stripped naked, thrown into the back of their truck and driven 5 hours along the very bad road from Takum to Jalingo. He vehicle was damaged and vandalized by PDP thugs. His Aide was also seriously injured with his hand fractured.
“Today, the court has set very impossible bail conditions of N50 million and two 2nd Class traditional rulers and two serving Permanent Secretaries in the State. How can we get all these people to stand sureties for him when they are all answerable to the Governor? So the whole thing is a calculated attempt to make his bail impossible to secure,” he said.
Fielding questions from journalists on whether the accused governor is from the Senatorial district with him and vying for the Senatorial seat, he said that he is and is also a candidate of another political party.
He also hinted that the APC is aware of the manhandling of the campaign coordinator by the state chief executive, even as he lamented that he said there should be a surety before a bail is effected.
The lawmaker who had defected to the ruling party had asked that all relevant security agencies and stakeholders in elections do ensure that election in Nigeria in free fair and credible.
He also vowed to seek the intervention of a higher court to challenge the “unlawful arrest and continued detention” of his campaign DG, with a view to forcing the trial judge to either review the bail conditions or have the charges quashed.
