The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday condemned the repeated snubbing of the Senate by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, who, for the third time, refused to honour Senate summon over the worsening security situation in the country.
The country’s main opposition political party said it had noted what it called the deliberate assault on Nigeria’s democratic process, willful denigration of the National Assembly and recourse to totalitarianism and the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari, the nation’s chief security officer, to reprimand him.
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, said it was “instructive to state that never in our democratic history as a people and a nation, has a service chief or an inspector general of police treated the National Assembly with as much dishonor and disdain like the current IGP.”
“We invite Nigerians to note that totalitarianism does not begin in a day. It starts from a deliberate disrespect to statutes, laws and institutions that engender democracy and rule of law.
“Consequently, the PDP, as a party, urges the President of the Senate and senators to protect the institution of the legislature and our democracy by not limiting their action only to finding Mr. Ibrahim Idris as “unfit” to hold public office.
“The PDP, therefore, charges the Senate to take the next step within their legislative instrument and powers to restore the respect and dignity which the generality of Nigerians and the 1999 Constitution (as amended) bestow on them.”