Nigerians deserve to know condition of Buhari, says PDP

The National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has, again, restated that Nigerians deserve to know the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The NCC of the PDP pointed out that no one has the right or power to hide the President behind the curtain while dishing out instructions to Nigerians in the name of the President.

The national caretaker committee of the PDP said this on Tuesday in its reaction to the Monday’s expulsion of the accredited correspondent of The Punch newspapers in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Olalekan Adetayo, by Abubakar Bashir, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Buhari.

The party’s reaction was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the NCC, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, on Tuesday, in Abuja.

The NCC of the PDP noted with regrets that Nigeria is gradually tilting towards full blown dictatorship.

In the statement titled, “Re: Expulsion of The Punch Newspaper Reporter from State House – A Move towards Fascism “, the party made it clear that the media as the fourth estate of the realm is an important pillar of any democracy.

It maintained that any attempt to gag the Press in whatever guise is an abridgment of the rights of the people and a direct assault on our hard earned democracy.

The NCC therefore totally condemned the action of the President’s CSO, telling him to realise that the nation is in a democracy and not military dictatorship.

The action of the CSO to the President, the NCC of the PDP stated, also shows the lack of synergy in the Villa that a reporter will be expelled without the knowledge or concurrence of the President’s Adviser on Media Relations.

The statement reads: “Yesterday, (Monday) April 24, 2017, we received the news on the expulsion of Olalekan Adetayo, the Punch Newspaper Reporter and Chairman of Press Corps at the Presidential Villa by Abubakar Bashir, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Muhammadu Buhari but it did not come to us as a surprise given that the nation is gradually tilting towards full blown dictatorship.

“Adetayo’s offence we heard, was his report by the weekend titled: “Fresh anxiety at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa over Buhari’s health”.

“The PDP acknowledges Mr. President’s health challenges; and as a human being and an elder statesman, we quite understand the need for him to have adequate rest and continuous medical attention.

“We are therefore not too surprised that the President has not in recent times been able to fully face the rigours of government and has to make very rare public appearances.

“This is pretty obvious to all Nigerians. The Punch Story is therefore nothing extraordinary. It merely reflects what Nigerians already know with perhaps a little bit of speculative license. It therefore should not have elicited the extreme reaction from the President’s Chief Security Officer.

“The Media as the fourth estate of the realm is an important pillar of any democracy. Any attempt to gag the Press in whatever guise is an abridgment of the rights of the people and a direct assault on our hard earned democracy. We therefore totally condemn the action of the President’s CSO.

“He must realize that we are in a democracy and not military dictatorship. It is also revealing and shows the lack of synergy in the Villa that a reporter will be expelled without the knowledge or concurrence of the President’s Adviser on Media Relations.

“For the umpteenth time, we want to re-iterate that Nigerians deserve to know the health condition of their President. No one has the right or power to hide the President behind the curtain while dishing out instructions to Nigerians in the name of the President.

“We join all well-meaning Nigerians to wish the President a speedy recovery and pray that the Lord Almighty will grant all that is required for him to fulfill his responsibilities to our dear Country”.