The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Uche Secondus has advised legislators of the ninth Assembly to guide their independence jealously.Secondus in a statement issued by his Media Aide, Ike Abonyi on Monday in Abuja, urged the legislators-elect to refuse to be intimidated. He said that the 9th members of the Senate should know that they were elected representatives of the people, that “the parliament is opium of democracy.”He also advised President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against muzzling the legislature and the other arms of the government.Secondus spoke against the backdrop of what he described as “obvious direct involvement of APC” ahead of Tuesday’s election of principal officers of the 9th Assembly.He said that the doctrine of the separation of power must be respected and guided to avoid dictatorship.Secondus said his advice became absolutely germane given the continuous propensity of the APC to disregard the rule of law and other principles of democracy.“Available intelligence to the party shows that the the APC have concluded plans to use intimidation and coercion against legislators not ready to do their bidding in their desperation to hoist leadership on the legislators.” he said.Secondus alleged that the APC had been arm-twisting the technocrat officials of the National Assembly to fashion out favourable rules that would enable them have their way.The National Chairman alleged that the party was trying to take over the 9th assembly so as to realise its long held aspiration of hijacking the legislature.“When a supposed democratic government brazenly muscles all the other arms of government, the legislature, the Judiciary and even the press, the fourth estate of the realm, we should be worried at what is loading in our polity,” he said. Secondus said that any government not disposed to respecting the separation of powers and rule of law as enshrined in the constitution in a democratic setting, was looking for absolute authority, which was nothing but totalitarianism.
