Why Buhari should emulate Biodun Fatoyinbo by stepping down – Timi Frank

Timi Frank, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to follow the example of the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, COZA, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, who recently stepped down from his position following allegations of rape against him.

Frank explained that since Buhari has been accused of rigging himself into office during the last presidential elections, the “best thing would be for him to step down until the petition filed against him by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is decided by the Tribunal and the Supreme Court”.

In a statement he signed and issued on Tuesday, Frank said: “What General Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) did to Nigeria during the last general elections amount to a grievous rape on our democracy. Therefore Buhari must of necessity step down just like Pastor Fatoyinbo has done, pending the final determination of the ongoing petition by the Justices of the presidential election petitions tribunal and the Supreme Court.

“As a man who claims to have integrity, it is only normal that you (General Buhari) step aside so that the judiciary can do its job without fear, favour or bias that could stem from the ongoing interference in the official activities of the Justices by agents of the executive.

“As at today, the tribunal members are being intimidated, out-rightly harassed, blackmailed, coerced, bribed and above all, covertly threatened by the executive in order to fraudulently procure a favourable judgement,” Frank stated.

He claimed that Buhari’s manifest incompetence, poor leadership and his unabashed rigging of the last presidential election have brought untold pain and hardship upon Nigerians.

Frank added: “Your administration raped Nigerians by denying them the true outcome of their vote which was to ensure that a man who can help further the fight against insecurity, tackle unemployment, mitigate poverty and boost the economy in the person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was elected.”

The political activist also called on all Nigerians especially members of the civil society, labour unions and celebrities that spearheaded the protest against the COZA pastor last Sunday to apply the same pressure on the present “illegitimate government so as to stop their present illegalities which is tantamount to continuous rape on the nation’s democracy, pending the outcome of the presidential election petition tribunal and the Supreme Court”.

Frank continued: “Following the colossal rape of the nation’s democracy and rule of law by General Buhari and his gang through the wholesale rigging of the last general elections, kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry and other deadly security malady have become a daily affair across the country.

“Added to this evil is the ongoing forceful establishment of Ruga Settlements all over Nigeria which will lead to further rape, killings and maiming of innocent citizens and the systematic annexation of their ancestral lands by his foreign collaborators and others known as fulani herdsmen.”

He called on well-meaning Nigerians to urgently rise and take a decisive stand against the “ongoing pillaging and stripping of their common patrimony and the mortgaging of the future wellbeing of their children’s children by General Buhari and his gang”.

“Those who led protests against the COZA pastor that forced him to step down must also prevail on General Buhari to step down pending the outcome of the ongoing judicial process against his election because the allegations against Pastor Fatoyinbo and General Buhari are the same,” Frank declared.