Nigeria Sliding Into ‘Elective’ Dictatorship – Kwara Speaker

RAZAK ATUNWA
RAZAK ATUNWA

Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Mr. Razak Atunwa, has warned that Nigeria is sliding into anarchy.

Atunwa, who made this known in an interview in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, cited the crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly as indicative of the slide.

He decried “the impunity going on in Rivers State” and called for an urgent resolution of the political crisis in the oil-rich state.

The Speaker said that the Rivers Assembly was being hindered and frustrated from performing its duties.

He also decried the clampdown by policemen on peaceful gatherings of groups sympathetic to the cause of Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

“There is a lot of impunity going on as it concerns the Rivers State House of Assembly. There is lack of respect for the rule of law.

“We have the Rivers House of Assembly that the powers that be do not wish to function simply because the governor has 26 members on his side. They sought to impeach a Speaker by five members against 27. That did not work.

“The next thing for them to do is to close down the House of Assembly so that it cannot function”, Atunwa said.

He warned that the ugly trend must be stopped to avoid endangering the nation’s democracy.

“What kind of democracy are we running in this country? We have changed into an elective dictatorship. That once elected, a president must become a dictator and this is a kind of impunity in Rivers State. In Kaduna, Kogi states, the Speakers were removed by minority and this President condoned it”, Atunwa stated.