Stop harassing opposition party members, Buhari tells FG

    
A former Head of State and leader of the All Progressives Congress, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd), on Monday asked the Peoples Democratic Party-led government to stop the harassment and intimidation of  perceived political opponents ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Buhari added that the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission on the 2015 polls was subject to modification by political parties.
He stated this during an interview on the English service of the Liberty FM radio, monitored in Kaduna on Monday.
Besides, he condemned the arrest of the APC’s Interim Deputy National Secretary and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for his comment on the 2015 general elections.
The former military leader added that the gale of defections from the ruling party to the APC was to enthrone democracy in the country.
Buhari said, “All we are fighting for is to have proper democracy. What I mean is that whatever people say, whether they reflect briefly on it or not, Nigerians are now well aware of their right and what they expect from the government and what they are doing to fight for true democracy in the country.”
He restated the need for a free and fair election in the country in 2015.
The APC leader argued that it was wrong for the authority to arrest the former FCT minister for the same comment others had made and were still walking freely on the streets.
Apparently referring to the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari, Buhari cautioned the government against harassing and intimidating  Nigerians for making free comments.
He said, “We have to properly secure and manage this country. You cannot deny citizens their rights to express their own opinion or you allow some people to brazenly threaten the cooperate existence of the country; and instead of inviting them and asking them to explain themselves to the nation, they are given a ride in Presidential jets. When others do it, you go and lock them up or you harass them. That is not the way to do things.”