The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has condemned the arrest of Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the Spokesman of the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP.
The party is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the Spokesperson, who was reportedly arrested by the Nigerian police earlier in the week.
Ugochinyere was arrested allegedly on the orders of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The PDP decried the arrest of the opposition spokesman despite a subsisting court order barring such.
The party said the development was a ”direct affront to the judiciary, an assault on Nigeria’s democratic practice and a violation of Ugochinyere’s rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
In a statement shared on the party’s official Twitter handle, the PDP said “In demanding his release, our party is deeply worried by reports that the CUPP spokesperson is being detained under very dehumanizing conditions where he is also allegedly being tortured.
“The @OfficialPDPNig insists that, without prejudice to the issues between the leadership of the House of Representatives and the CUPP, for which the two parties were before a court, resorting to using the police to arrest and detain the CUPP spokesperson, in defiance of the orders of the court, is completely unacceptable, unlawful and cannot be justified under any guise whatsoever.
“Our party charges the Presiding Officers of the @OfficialAPCNg-led House of Representatives to note that Nigeria is a democratic state, governed by laws which creates no space for the whims and caprices of dictatorial oppressive and vindictive individuals, who have no regard for rules
“The @OfficialAPCNg leaders in the House of Representatives should, therefore, respect the sanctity of the judiciary and the provisions of the law by following due process in dealing with issues, particularly those guaranteed by the constitution.
“The @OfficialPDPNig, therefore, calls on the Inspector General of @PoliceNG to wade into the matter, insulate the @PoliceNG from the political manipulation of the @OfficialAPCNg leadership, by immediately ordering the release of the CUPP Spokesperson in keeping with the demands of the tenets of democracy, rule of law and provision of 1999 Constitution.”
