The Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose  and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under Senator Ahmed Makarfi yesterday, called for the unconditional release of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido.
Lamido was arrested by the police and remanded in prison for alleged incitement.
A Magistrate Court in Jigawa State yesterday remanded the former governor of the state, Sule Lamido, in prison custody.
The Chief Magistrate, Usman Lamin, said in his ruling that Lamido would be in the Dutse prison until May 4, when applications for his bail were decided.
The Police arraigned the former governor, yesterday, over alleged inciting comments.
Lamido was last Sunday arrested by the police over an allegation that he made inciting and inflammatory remarks capable of threatening the peace of the state.
The former governor was arrested at his Kano residence by police officers from Zone I, Kano.
On arrival at Zone 1, BUK Road, Kano, Lamido, was allegedly shown the DVD of the purported inciting recording which he allegedly made to his Peoples Democratic Party supporters in Jigawa in April, 2017.
Condemning Lamido’s arrest, Fayose described it as another attempt to muzzle the opposition and cow Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members nursing 2019 presidential ambition.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose described Lamido’s detention as “childish and ridiculous.”
He said: “It appears that the cabal in the APC-led government that is holding Nigerians to ransom want their candidate to contest the 2019 election unopposed.
“Obviously, that is the reason for the arrest and detention of former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, and Alhaji Lamido, who have shown interest in the Presidency.
“If a former governor is arrested and incarcerated for what they called incitement, what should the police have done to those Fulani herdsmen that have killed thousands of Nigerians across the country?
“With the arrest of Alhaji Lamido, the detention of former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam since February this year, and the arrest and detention of Dr. Babangida Aliyu, it is becoming clearer that these APC people will only contest election against themselves in 2019.
“It will even be unnecessary to continue to fund the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since they don’t want anyone to contest the 2019 presidential election against their party.
“The APC cabal can as well proscribe INEC and declare their party the perpetual ruler of Nigeria instead of wasting money on conduct of elections.”
Describing Lamido’s arrest as the height of power drunkenness, Fayose said “the police claim that Lamido was arrested for allegedly inciting his supporters to go violent if the results of the local government elections fixed for July 1, 2017, was to say the least irresponsible and ludicrous.
“How can you arrest someone in April, because of an election slated for July, and keep the person in detention for the past 24 hours?
“Is it not even laughable that the APC government in Jigawa State is so afraid of allowing the people the freedom to participate in an election to be conducted by the state government itself such that it opted for the arrest and detention of a former governor of the State more than two months to the elections?”
While calling for a stop to what he called “the APC government’s regime of political intimidation and harassment,” Fayose said Nigerians will resist any attempt to foist a one party system on the country.
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under Senator Ahmed Makarfi on its part called on the international community, to help the party to secure the immediate release of four of its former state governors who have been arrested and detained by security agencies.
The party said the excesses of the security agencies have now reached alarming proportions, warning that “If this ugly trend is not stopped forthwith, it may lead to breach of peace and public disorder.”
In a statement issued by the spokesman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Dayo Adeyeye, the party urged members of the international community to call the All Progressives Congress (APC) government particularly the APC governors whom it described as “overexcited and autocratic,” to order.
“We are therefore calling on the security agencies in the country to release unconditionally, Governor Sule Lamido; the former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam; former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, and all other political detainees in their custody. We are in a democracy and not a Gestapo state,” it said.
The opposition which said its attention has been drawn to the unwarranted arrest and detention of the former Governor of Jigawa State, Lamido, by men of the Nigerian Police Force in Kano State, described the action as outrageous and anti-democratic.
It alleged that Lamido was arrested and detained last Sunday on the frivolous allegation of ‘inciting the public.
The PDP said the true reason for Lamido’s arrest had to do with the forthcoming local government elections in Jigawa State.
It also alleged that the long incarceration of Suswan is also linked to the forthcoming local government elections in Benue State.
“The APC-led administration is fast losing the confidence of the people because of its non-performance, high handedness and lack of empathy for the suffering of the people. The only option left for it is to prevent the opposition from effectively campaigning and mobilising the people for the elections.
“The whole strategy of the failed APC government is founded on the assumption that if there is no opposition, then they cannot be defeated. Hence, the intimidation, harassment and incarceration of popular opposition leaders like Lamido. We are aware that we in the opposition will be in for a hard time in the run-up to the 2019 general elections with more arrests and intimidation of our prominent leaders.
“For the record, President Muhammadu Buhari, before the 2011 general election, made several inciting statements against the rigging of the elections with grave consequences thereafter. He was never arrested or detained.
“Nigerians cannot also forget some inciting statements credited to President Buhari ahead of the 2015 general election. Especially, Buhari, while addressing Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) members in Niger State, incited his audience in Hausa language that translates thus: ‘…If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.’
“For this statement and others as well, he was never invited, arrested or detained by any of the security agencies under the PDP administration. It was not a sign of weakness by the PDP-led government. It was in deference to freedom of speech, democracy and peace.” PDP said.
It further accused APC of unleashing the Nigerian Police, the DSS and the EFCC to harass and intimidate court judges, opposition leaders, social media influencers/bloggers and other Nigerians who speak against the APC-led federal or state governments on fabricated charges just to cow them.
According to PDP, Lamido merely asked the people to defend their votes against rigging, which is not a crime.
“If you are not planning to steal the people’s votes, why should you be afraid if the people are advised to defend their votes? Of course, no thief would want the owner to guard his house against burglary.
“The excesses of the security agencies have now reached alarming proportions. If they must be reminded, their mandate is to defend all Nigerians and not to act as a willing instrument of oppression of the people by the autocratic APC government.
“We want to also use this opportunity to invite members of the international community to call the APC government particularly the overexcited and autocratic APC governors to order. They are the ones who are instigating the lawlessness as we saw in Kogi, Niger, Benue and now Jigawa State.
“If this ugly trend is not stopped forthwith, it may lead to breach of peace and public disorder. The APC leaders and governors should be held responsible for whatever is the outcome of this continuous intimidation of opposition members in the country,” the party stated.