FG new devious trend is tagging opposition security risk-Wike

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, on Monday said Nigeria has never been badly governed as currently being done.

The Governor accused the Federal Government of tagging opposition members security risk and seizing their passports.

Wike said this  at the opening of the 61st Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt.

He said, “Never in our political history has Nigeria been so badly governed and denied of good governance with the Federal Government woefully failing in its basic duties to provide for the wellbeing and security of its own citizens as we have experienced in the last six years.

“On a daily basis, the economic, social and political rights, including the rights to personal security, freedom of speech, association, dissent and peaceful protests, as well as the right to personal liberty are being violated with impunity by the present central administration and its security apparatus.

“The invasion on personal liberty has been brazen and indiscriminate, such that even judges of the superior courts, including Supreme Court justices, have in the recent past been victims of midnight assaults on their premises and subjection to unlawful arrests and imprisonments.

“Lately, the new devious trend is to tag security risks to innocent Nigerians and opposition elements and use the Immigration Authority to seize their international passports without a prior court order.”

Discussing the Value Added Tax, the Governor called on the Supreme Court to give the case of the Value Added Tax currently before it an accelerated hearing.

The Governor said, “It is for similar reasons of strengthening fiscal federalism that we are in court to determine the proper authority, under our Constitution for imposing and collecting the Value Added Tax in our country.

“These are very nationally sensitive issues and Nigerians are eagerly waiting for the final outcome of the judicial process.

“We therefore wonder why the Supreme Court is not giving accelerated hearing to these matters and respectfully request that this should be done in the national interest.”

In his address, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, represented by Supreme Court Judge, Justice Mary Odili, charged the NBA and its members that serve in various offices in the arms of government to lead the crusade to address the poor condition of service of national judicial officers.

Justice Muhammad noted that as Nigeria remain faced with the challenges of kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, agitations for secession and resource control, the peace of the country now rests on the balance of the scale of justice.