Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) condemned police arrest of Ikenga Ugochinyere, Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) spokesperson, and requested his immediate release from prison.
On Thursday Mr Ugochinyere, a vocal Buhari administration critic, was arrested.
Although the police have yet to state publicly the reason for his arrest, there are insinuations that the detention of Mr Ugochinyere is related to a controversial claim he made about the bill on infectious diseases.
Mr Ugochinyere claimed, without proof, that the Bill Gates Foundation coerced members of the House of Representatives to pass the controversial bill on infectious diseases with a $10 million bribe, a argument refuted by the foundation.
The bill is also yet to to be passed by the lawmakers.
Mr Ugochinyere, having approached the court on May 7, along with Action People’s Party (APP), asked the court to bar the House from proceeding with its plan to hold a hearing on the induction allegation.
In May, in a suit labeled FHC / ABJ / CS/475/2020, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred the house committee from continuing the hearing of the case against Mr Ugochinyère.
Also, when a CUPP leader, Kenneth Udeze, spoke to journalists on Friday, he alleged that the arrest of Mr Ugochinyere was instigated by House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, “over a matter that is in court and for which the court had directly and in clear terms restrained the police from arresting or detaining him in any manner.”
Joining his voice with others calling for the freedom of Mr Ugochinyere, Mr Abubakar said that acts of tyranny and dictatorship are at odds with a democracy.
“We are a nation governed by the rule of law and not of the jungle. Tyranny and dictatorship are inimical to a democratic order. I hereby call for the immediate release of the spokesman of CUPP, Barr. Ikenga Ugochinyere,” the former VP wrote on his verified Twitter handle.
We are a nation governed by the rule of law and not of the jungle. Tyranny and dictatorship are inimical to a democratic order. I hereby call for the immediate release of the spokesman of CUPP, Barr. Ikenga Ugochinyere. -AA
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) June 19, 2020
The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Ugochinyere in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan.
The party decried the CUPP spokesman’s detention as an affront to the courts, in violation of a subsisting court order banning it.
“In demanding his release, our party is deeply worried by reports that the CUPP spokesperson is being detained under very dehumanizing condition where he is also allegedly being tortured.”
The PDP insisted that, without prejudice to the issues between House of Representatives leadership and the CUPP, resorting to using the police to arrest and detain the CUPP spokesperson is totally unacceptable, unlawful and unjustifiable.
“Our party charges the Presiding Officers of the APC-led House of Representatives to note that Nigeria is a democratic state, governed by law which creates no space for the whims and caprices of dictatorial, oppressive and vindictive individuals, who has no regard for rules.”
So the PDP called on the police inspector general to wade into the matter.
Meanwhile, the police spokesperson, Frank Mba, is yet to respond to inquiries sent on the arrest as of the time of filing this report.
The police have also yet to bring charges against Mr Ugochinyere.
