Drop all the charges against Omoyele Sowore as to not rubbish your image — Shehu Sani to Buhari

SENATOR Shehu Sani has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, drop all the charges against pro-democracy campaigner, Omoyele Sowore, by the government, just as he said that the nation’s democracy has become imperiled by a growing state culture of intolerance of dissent and opposing opinions.

Senator Sani who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate first on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, said that attempt to continue with charges of treason and felony levelled against Sowore would rubbish the image of President Buhari and the present government.

In a statement made available to the Correspondent Whatsapp page yesterday, the former lawmaker raised the alarm that the nation’s Democracy was becoming inhabitable and inhospitable to its ideal content.

According to him, a situation where a state equates dissent to disloyalty, it progressively decays under what he described as the weight of its courtiers, just as he said that at the moment, there is a climate of fear, intimidation and intolerance in the country, adding that this contradicts the philosophy of progressivism the ruling establishment purports.

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Senator Sani’s statement read, “Sowore’s trial is unnecessary and uncalled for, it would only further stain the human rights record of this administration and diminish and dent the moral standing of our country.

“There is a climate of fear, intimidation and intolerance in the country and this contradicts the philosophy of progressivism the ruling establishment purports. The nation’s democracy is imperiled by a growing state culture of intolerance of dissent and opposing opinions.

“The President’s desire to build and leave behind an anti-corruption legacy and tower should not be cited in the Human rights graveyard. If the ruling establishment is confident of its moral standing and support base, it should defeat Sowore with superior ideas and not persecute him.

“Sowore’s charges amount to electrocution of freedom.

“The Democratic credentials of any elected Government is not simply about the legitimacy of its mandate, but about the degree of its tolerance to dissent and its compliance with the fundamental principles of freedom.

“I appeal to the FG to drop the charges filed against Sowore.

“Our Democracy is becoming inhabitable and inhospitable to its ideal content.

“When a state equates dissent to disloyalty, it progressively decays under the weight of its courtiers.”