The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to warn Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, against further harassment of Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The group, an umbrella body of monarchs, leaders and stakeholders of the South-South region, made this known in a Tuesday statement signed by its Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mulade.
PANDEF accused the IG of being partisan in its handling of issues involving the leaders of the National Assembly, saying that the nation could not afford to have such a security chief.
Stating that the leaders of the National Assembly have suffered ridicule in the hands of the security agencies, PANDEF said that the invitation of Saraki by the police over the Offa Bank Robbery was aimed at humiliating him.
The group said that Buhari’s failure to caution the IG could jeopardise the nation’s nascent democracy.
The statement read, “We at PANDEF call on President Buhari to immediately call the Inspector General of Police, Mr Idris to order. Any service chief who indulges in partisanship is not in the best of this country.
“The leadership of PANDEF, condemns in strong terms, the undue harassment and withdrawal of security from the Senate President, Dr Saraki and the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara, who occupy the number three and four positions in this country.
“The invitation of the Senate President and the alleged frame up of members of the National Assembly is calculated at bring the National Assembly to ridicule. This is condemnable, and an embarrassment to the entire country.
“In recent times, members of the National Assembly who represent the people of Nigeria have suffered so much humiliation that it is now making mockery of the security system in Nigeria. This is politics playing to the gallery, and it is detrimental to the image of this great country.
“That members of the National Assembly and indeed the Senate President could be roped into armed robbery incident is appalling and a threat to our democracy.”