Senate President Bukola Saraki. Twitter
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described the barricade of the homes of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, as an attempt to thwart freedom of expression and association.
The houses of the two lawmakers were on Tuesday allegedly barricaded by security agents.
Speaking on the development, the CNPP, which is the umbrella body for political parties in Nigeria, said the development also showed the shaky relationship between the Legislative and Executive arms of government.
“The barricade of the residence of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and that of the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu is the culmination of the altercation between the executive and the legislative arms of government in the country,” the CNPP said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Following truncated impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari at the Senate, the constant intimidation of lawmakers by the agents of the executive is the culmination of the ongoing distrust between the two arms of government.
“No democracy will survive in an atmosphere of unbridled interference by the executive in the affairs of the legislative chambers, using the coercive forces at its disposal to muzzle dissenting voices and distort free flow of democratic forces and freedom to associate.”
“The constitution of Nigeria, which both the executive and legislative members swore to uphold guarantees freedom of association and right to hold an opinion and it will be detrimental to the deepening of our democracy for security agencies to deny any Nigerian these rights, rather all security forces are to ensure that these rights are respected.”