Posted by By FRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE, Abuja on
Former Head of State and presidential aspirant of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in the 2003 elections, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday described the arrest and arraignment of two journalists in Abuja, on charges of sedition.....
Former Head of State and presidential aspirant of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in the 2003 elections, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari on Tuesday described the arrest and arraignment of two journalists in Abuja, on charges of sedition as a subtle declaration of war by President Olusegun Obasanjo against the media over their roles in crushing the third term agenda.
Gen Buhari said the fact that journalists are being prosecuted for sedition, "means that the president and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government are visiting this country with defunct Decree 4 through the back door."
The politician, who was addressing women leaders of the ANPP in Abuja, said the new development was an aftermath of the killing of the third term agenda, which, he said, shows how vindictive President Obasanjo could be.
Gen. Buhari, whose message was delivered by a chieftain of the party, Alhaji Buba Galadima, lamented that it was unheard of that a government that prides itself as being democratic could resort to dictatorial action as clamping into detention people with voices of dissent.
Said he: "What is happening is because the press stood firmly and fought against their bad, sinister and criminal third term agenda that they are now intimidating the press with arrest and detention for sedition.
"(They are saying) that criticism against Obasanjo and his government is now seditious. If anybody criticizes Obasanjo and he feels offended, the best way for him, in a democracy, is to go to court of law and seek redress. That is democracy, not clamping people in detention by the SSS.
'We all should know by now that the message is clear. We should stand firm, we should be courageous and unwavering and no amount of intimidation should stop us in the ANPP from getting power in 2007," he said.
The former head of state also charged the press not to chicken out of the war, which had just been unleashed on its members, saying that this is the time the press should stand as the fourth estate of the realm.
He explained that events have shown the level the PDP could go in getting whatever it wants, saying that the ANPP would guide jealously its votes in 2007. He said that nothing would stand against the ANPP and the presidential villa next year.
Earlier in her welcome address, the National Women Leader, Mrs. Bridget Orjiekwe, urged women in the party to be up and doing and to complement the efforts of men, assuring them that they would have their fair share of positions in the party next year.
The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, through its national publicity secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said that Nigerians want to know the state of the president's aircraft, demanding the immediate release of the detained journalists.