THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of with-hunt in the arrest and detention of one of its chieftains, Dr. Doyin Okupe.The party demanded the immediate release of Okupe, who is being detained by the EFCC a few days after operatives of the commission visited his Lagos residence.
A statement yesterday by the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, described Dr. Okupe’s arrest and detention as an act of intimidation and harassment by the Buhari administration.
It accused the administration of attempts to browbeat the opposition and dissenting voices ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The statement said: “This arrest is part of the grand plot to escalate the clampdown on opposition leaders, in the attempt to cow and subjugate them as the elections draw nearer, a scheme the PDP had since alerted the nation about.
“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the EFCC was unleashed on Dr. Okupe with fabricated charges, just because of his criticisms of the misrule of the Buhari administration, particularly, his last Wednesday’s demand on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare President Buhari as not validly nominated as a presidential candidate for the 2019 elections.
“Since this comment, Dr. Okupe has been threatened, harassed and his home raided by officials of the EFCC last Saturday over claims of cyber stalking, which they could not substantiate, only for the commission to arrest and detain him on Monday.
“It is indeed unfortunate that the EFCC, under President Buhari, has been turned to a militant wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hound, intimidate, harass and even extort money from opposition leaders and other Nigerians perceived to be opposed to Mr. President’s ill-fated re-election bid.”
The PDP challenged the President to demonstrate his much-touted integrity by allowing an open investigation of his associates and close relatives, who were mentioned in alleged looting of public resources.
