A Senatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming Senatorial election for Taraba South District and a sitting Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Usman Dauda Shiddi, has accused the State Governor, Darius Ishaku, of using intimidation and harassment to muzzle opposition in the state.
Hon. Usman Dauda Shiddi bared his mind at a media briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Hon. Shiddi, who is contesting in the same Senatorial election with the incumbent governor, decried the manner in which the governor is deploying State apparatus to hound and persecute APC supporters in Southern Taraba with a view to making the political space uncomfortable for opposition.
“Democracy is currently in danger in the state.
“Three APC stalwarts are currently languishing in jail on trumped-up charges orchestrated by governor Ishaku-led PDP.
“I want to say today that democracy is about to somersault in Taraba.
“Governor Ishaku Darius has been so impatient with the opposition and is assaulting democracy in Taraba, particularly southern Taraba.
“And to us, he is testing the waters. And if he goes scot-free in what he is doing, we do know what we would do as the election approaches.
“As I speak today, my campaign DG, Dantani Danazumi Meshach, is still under detention in prison.
“After the bail was reviewed, the Magistrate Court granted him bail.
The High Court issued another warrant again for his custody for charges that were political.
“They called my DG a lot of names, comparing him to Gana in Benue, and there are no records to show where he kidnapped, killed or did anything wrong anywhere.
“This same fellow assisted them, was working for them and he won election in 2019 and now because he does not work for them, he has become a bad person.
“He did not stop there. As I speak again today, my Local Government Area coordinator of Wukari, the coordinator of our governorship aspirant, Ibrahim Danji Jibatswen, and the party chairman of the Local Government, Isa Ma’aji Shekarau Masa-ibi, are in prison today.
“They were summoned to the court some few days ago and were taken to police custody and later to prison.
“For the singular fact they reported to the police…because there was an attempt to attack us during the coronation of the two traditional rulers in Takum and Donga and Wuakari,” he lamented.
He expressed dismay at the seeming travesty of justice being perpetrated against the APC in the state, using law enforcement and the judiciary that is supposed to be the last hope of the common man.
He wondered why the governor would resort to intimidation and harassment, if truly he is popular among the people like himself (Chiri), to win the election.
“We don’t know what will happen next again. We are being intimidated all over.
“And all these are geared towards the 2023 election.
“If he knows that he is grounded, why is he afraid of opposition? If you know you are on ground, why use state powers and resources to muzzle up opposition?
“It is obvious that the governor of Taraba knows he is losing. That’s why they have this fever and make all the harassment all over the place.
“APC is waiting for election even tomorrow.
“… February is even too long for us. If they say the election is tomorrow, I am prepared for it.
“And for your information I am a Senatorial candidate for APC. I’m Southern Taraba.
“The governor is the Senatorial candidate of PDP in Southern Taraba and because of that fever, I am becoming a nightmare for him.
“Because of that fever, they use the state powers to harass and suppress my supporters.
“That is the fact about it. I am ready for the election. Maybe he is not prepared. I am prepared,” he said.
The lawmaker lamented that those cited in the petition as hatchers of the plot were neither arrested nor invited for questioning, not by the police or the court.
He, therefore, called on President Buhari and heads of security agencies, as well as the National Judicial Council (NJC), to wade into the matter by calling all involved to order.
“I have not seen where you write a petition where you are alerting security agencies of a crime that is about to be committed and now instead of the police investigating the matter, they turn against you that wrote the petition.
“Even the police that arrested them were invited by the court and from there, the court granted them bail, requesting them to bring a permanent secretary as surety, which is still not even possible.
“As they could not provide the permanent secretary, they now took them to the Area Command for detention.
“They kept them there and the next day, to court and from court back to prison.
“They are now in prison for the singular fact they are law-abiding citizens of Nigeria by reporting a crime that was planned against us, while those reported by the petition had not even been invited neither were they taken to court.
“Everything is targeted at opposition, especially in southern Taraba.
“… update you on what is happening in our state. So you can further help us.
“I am crying out to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, the security agencies, the Security High Command, the Judiciary, to quickly rise to the occasion to save democracy in Taraba.
“If nothing is done, I don’t know where we are heading to.
“The government is arm-twisting the judiciary in the estate.
“So I am calling on Mr. President and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to wade into this matter to stop the breakdown of law and order,” he added.
He, however, appealed to his supporters in Taraba South Senatorial District to remain calm and be law-abiding, just as he called on the media to expose anti-democratic tendencies of politicians who do not want to play by the rules.
“We are law-abiding citizens and would continue to appeal to our people not to take the law into their hands.
“…And continue to explore all judicial processes, all that we can do to ensure justice is done to our people and to ensure democracy thrives in Taraba state.
“We would not encourage anarchy and any breakdown of law and order. We would work hard to ensure the right thing is done.
“That is why I said I should update you on what is happening in our state,” said Hon. Chiri.
