…PDP Senate Caucus condemns plan
By Nuel Suji – The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has raised an alarm over an alleged grand plan by those he described as cabal in the Presidency to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to implicate him in financial and arms scandal.
This was just as the Senate Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), condemned in strong terms the alleged plan against the Deputy Senate President by Cabal in Presidency.
Sen. Ekweremadu, who spoke at the plenary Wednesday inform his colleagues of the alleged plan said the EFCC was planning to raid his apartment in Enugu on the night of Saturday, May 6 through Sunday, 7 and to claim that a huge amount of money and some arms and ammunition were found in the apartment and subsequently detain him for the offence he knows nothing about.
He told senators that the plan was revealed to him through a letter by an unknown person who sought protection of his identity.
The letter reads, “Distinguished senator, there is a grand plan from the cabals in the Presidency using EFCC, as an anti-graft agency to indict and remove you from office. These cabals in the Presidency have mandated the EFCC chairman to carry out this evil operation within two weeks.
“On Saturday, the 6th of May, 2017 through Sunday morning, the EFCC (in collaboration with) local and international media, both print and TV, Radio will raid an apartment under the guise of whistle blowing policy of the federal government with search warrant already obtained in the Magistrate Court to search an apartment alleging to be one of your Guest Houses in Enugu or any suitable available apartment in your senatorial district that will serve this evil purpose.
“EFCC (is) claiming to have received a tip-off from a whistle blower in your state alerting the agency of a large huge amount of money of different currencies in the said apartment belonging to you Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Ekweremadu added that the source further wrote that he would thereafter be arrested and detained by the EFCC while there would be sponsored protests in some states of the federation including Lagos, Enugu, Anambra, and Abuja.
According to the source, the cabals in the Presidency were planning the action to indict and kill his political ambition as well as portray him as a corrupt politician before Nigerians and the international community so that he could no longer stand for any future elections.
But, the PDP caucus in the Senate condemned the alleged plan after its emergency meeting Wednesday.
Addressing journalists after the emergency meeting, the spokesman of the caucus, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said Nigeria had in the past gone through similar state intimidation, harassment and persecution and overcome it the way the emerging ones shall surely be overcome.
He said: “The matter of the alleged plan by some persons in the Presidency to use the EFCC to harass, intimidate and place the Deputy Senate President in detention in the next two weeks is condemnable and must be disallowed.
“We hereby call on peace loving Nigerians to be aware of this invidious plan to cow any dissenting voice in the country.
“The detention of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, his counterpart from Benue State, Gabriel Suswan raise a very big question about human rights compliance and is a worrying trend.
“A situation where anybody can be set up through security agencies and put in prison for no just cause signals death knell to democracy and human rights in Nigeria”.
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