The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as illegal and a move towards fascism, the asset seizure Executive Order by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said the order was a total disregard to the provisions of 1999 constitution.
The party said the Nigerian constitution did not, under any section, confer such “fascist powers” on the President under the nation’s democracy.
According to the party, there was no legitimate latitude of interpretation placed on sections 5 and 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution cited as justifications for the executive order, that could excuse it.
PDP said Buhari’s “unilateral” Executive Order was a travesty of justice and rule of law.
It argued that the action was an attempt to hijack and usurp the powers of both the legislature and the courts and vest it on himself so that he could use same at will, “as a political instrument, to haunt, traumatize, harass and victimize perceived political opponents.”
“In other words, Mr. President wants to change our democratic governance to a military regime, in line with his lamentation, two days ago, that the fight against corruption will be better under a military regime than under a democracy.
“It is instructive to emphasize that the PDP is not in any way opposed to the fight against corruption. Rather, the party holds that the imposition of this Executive Order, which is radically at variance with the provisions of the constitution, is totally unacceptable,” the party said.
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The leading opposition party said it took the Executive Order 6 of 2018 as a reenactment of the obnoxious Decree 2 of 1984, “which incidentally was also an enactment under then Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, and this must not be permitted in our current democratic dispensation.”
It said that if allowed, the Order would confer limitless powers on Mr. President, “whose administration’s penchant for violation of rules and order already suggests a readiness for autocracy and a drive towards fascism.”
