Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has recounted how he was held hostage by security agents on Tuesday.
He claimed that the ploy was to stop him and Senate President Bukola Saraki from going to the National Assembly on the day.
Ekweremadu and Saraki’s homes were besieged for several hours by a combined team of policemen, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other agencies.
“On Tuesday morning, some people laid siege to my house. They left at about 12:20 pm after spending about six and half hours,” Ekweremadu said on Wednesday.
“We anticipated that a number of our colleagues in All Progressives Congress (APC) would defect and join People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“In anticipation of that, the APC leadership had tried to stop them. When that didn’t happen, the first thing they did was invite President of the Senate to come to the Police.
“They believed that once the President of the Senate goes to the Police, I would be the one to preside and probably give effect to the letter of defection.
“In anticipation of that, the Police, EFCC, and other security agencies came together, about 200 of them, to stop me from going to the national assembly. They said I should come to the EFCC to give an explanation over the things I was accused of.”
He added that he “agreed to follow them even though there was no prior invitation, but they were not eager to let me go to answer the invitation.
“The plan was to stop me and the president of the Senate from going to the national assembly today. Unfortunately for them, the president of the Senate was already at the Senate to preside over the plenary session.
“This is not good for democracy. We must respect the law, respect institutions because that is the only way we can make progress as a nation. This is total embarrassment to our nation. I hope this will not happen again.
“I am very worried. This is a decline in our democracy. I want to call on the media and Nigerians to stand up for Nigeria and ensure we save our democracy.
“This is a dangerous development. The whole world expects Nigeria to lead in democracy in Africa. We need to make progress and show the world that Nigerians are indeed leaders in every aspect of life.
“When you invade the national assembly, you are invading the temple of democracy. That is exactly what has happened today. This is a major assault on democracy.
“Those advising the president should advise him correctly. As a result of this occurrence, Senate had to go on recess when there are outstanding issues to attend to. Nigerians are loosing. Whoever is behind this is not a good friend of Nigeria.”
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