Silence is a crime in an unjust society - Dino Melaye contests FG's alleged move to prosecute him

macfranc007 February 14, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Onyirioha Nnamdi

- The Senate president, Bukola Saraki, said that some of President Buhari's ministers are pretenders and enemies of democracy

- He pointed out that the federal government's plan to arraign Senator Dino Melaye over alleged misinformation on the attempt on his life is not the best way to approach the issue

- Saraki said that members of the Senate will continue to speak out against crimes in the country

Bukola Saraki, the president of the Senate, on Tuesday, February 13, said that a huge number of government officials who pretend to be helping the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari are against democracy.

He said this at the plenary of the senate as a response to issues raised by Senator Dino Melaye who aired his displeasure over the information that he has to be charged to court by the federal government for reporting to the police about an alleged attempt on his life in 2017, The Independent reports.

Melaye, who reported the issue to the parliament under Order 43 of the Senate rules, promised that his planned arraignment by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, would not stop him from criticising the federal government or any minister when the need arises.

He stated that the plan to get him arraigned was the presidency's response to his criticism of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and nothing else.

Melaye informed the Red Chamber that when the failed attempt on his life was made in 2017 at his residence in Kogi, the police asked him to name the suspects, and he provided the names of suspects based on their previous utterances.

He also told the lawmakers that the police, in line with the names he supplied to them, later made some arrests. He said the police even seized guns from the apprehended suspects.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said that no amount of persecution or blackmail would stop him from criticizing people’s crimes including President Muhammadu Buhari, stressing that it would be equal to crime against the people to remain silent in an unjust society.

He said: “If this arraignment is to stop me from criticising the federal government, they have committed a capital compound mistake. I shall continue to speak, I shall continue to ask questions, I shall continue to criticise any public officer including the President of Nigeria where he has gone wrong

“I have conquered fear and I am not afraid of the prison. The last administration arrested me 14 times; the Abacha and Babangida governments detained me. I am not afraid of the prison, it is built because of human beings but we will continue to speak the truth not minding whose ox is gored.

“In an unjust society, silence is a crime. The battle to bring Nigeria back on track from these criminals in power is a battle of no retreat no surrender and I am ready to face the Federal Government on this matter. I will fight it with the last drop of my blood, no retreat no surrender.”

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In his response to Melaye's comments, Senate President Bukola Saraki argued that the federal government taking Senator Melaye to court on the matter in question was not the best approach to the issue, but insisted that the lawmakers would continue to speak out on issues they considered to be wrong in the country.

Saraki stressed that members of the parliament would not hesitate to defend democracy and to ensure that the right things are done.

Earlier, NAIJ.com reported that Senator Dino Melaye on Tuesday, February 13, vowed to fight those whom he referred to as “criminals in power”, at both levels of the government, until sanity was restored to the country.

NAIJ.com gathered that the Senate committee chairman on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on the floor of the upper chamber cited Order 14 and spoke on the publication made in the media for the misinformation by the police that a case has been instituted between the federal government and himself.

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate - On NAIJ.com TV