Senators’ Forum Condemns Akpanudoedehe’s Arrest

Senators’ Forum in the country has urged the Federal Government to ensure the safety of the detained governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Akwa Ibom State, Senator James John Akpanudoedehe.

Addressing journalists in Ilorin, Kwara state capital today, the Chairman of Nigeria’s Senators Forum, Senator Khairat Abdulrasaq-Gwadabe warned that Akpanudoedehe, who was arrested hale and hearty, must be released the same way.

While condemning what she termed as undue interference by the police in the electoral process, Senator Abdulrasaq-Gwadabe said: “My telephone conversation with the wife of the detained former minister and senator prompted this press briefing. The wife had complained to me on the telephone that she feared that her husband might be gassed to death in custody.”

The Senator condemned the manner the detained ACN candidate was being treated by security operatives, recalling that a security man even slapped him at the premises of a court in Abuja before he was eventually whisked away to Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

Senator Abdulrasaq- Gwadabe emphasized the urgent need for President Goodluck Jonathan to call the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim to order, positing that “the undue interference of the police in the electoral process does not augur well for the country. Security agencies should not be used to harass any member of the opposition not to even talk of a distinguished Senator who had also served as a federal minister under Yar’Adua administration.”

She gave kudos to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega for the prompt cancellation of the botched 2 April National Assembly election.

Lamenting the losses suffered by the National Assembly candidates as well as members of the public owing to the postponement of the election, Mrs. Abdulrasaq-Gwadabe hopes that the electoral malpractices noticed shortly before the postponement would not be allowed by INEC and other stakeholders to take place again.

Commending Nigerians for their act of patriotism by trooping out in large numbers for the botched National Assembly election, she enjoined them to once again come out en-masse and participate in the rescheduled polls.
By Stephen Oni/Ilorin