Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has described the alleged plan by the federal government to ban him from travelling abroad as a threat to his life and personal liberty.
Fayose, who dared the Federal Government to carry out the plot, said: “Under the federal system of government, State governors are not appendages of the President and as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria, I cannot be cowed by President Muhammadu Buhari and his agents.”
The governor, who stated this in reaction to reports that two governors, one from the Southwest and another from the South South have been placed on travel restriction allegedly on President Buhari’s order, in a press conference by his Special Assistant on Public Communications , Lere Olayinka, said; He would travel out of Nigeria anytime he so wishes.
“I am not surprised or disappointed by this latest plot of the Buhari’s government because the President Buhari that we know is a man without any atom of respect for the rights of Nigerians as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and
this he demonstrated as a military dictator and now demonstrating as a democratically elected president.
“A few days ago, when Governor Fayose was reliably informed that President Buhari had directed that he should be banned from travelling outside Nigeria, he simply took the information as mere rumour, concluding that disrespect for the constitution of Nigeria and Buhari’s dictatorship would not be extended to the most ridiculous level of preventing a governor elected just as the president from travelling out of the country.
“However, when we read the story titled; “2 govs under watch, face travel ban” published on Sunday by two major national dailies, we have no option than to once again alert the public on President Buhari’s new dictatorial plot to infringe on the constitutional rights of Governor Fayose just because of his critical position of the President’s dictatorial tendencies.
“The question is; if Governor Fayose has become a threat to the security of Nigeria just because he criticises President Buhari and says the truth about his mis-governance of the country, is this not a confirmation that the President hates dissenting views?
“Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that: ‘Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty,’ while Section 41 (1) provides that ‘Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria
shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.’”
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