Erstwhile Governor of Benue State now Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, has said that the siege on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State on Thursday, was capable of throwing the whole democratic process in Nigeria into crisis.

Akume, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, warned that Nigeria was drifting towards a dangerous trend in her politics going by the recent actions of the military in Ekiti ahead of today’s governorship election in the state.

He berated President Goodluck Jonathan for allowing soldiers under his command to harass Governor Rotimi Amaechi and prevent him from entering the state to attend the APC Governorship grand rally for Governor John Kayode Fayemi.

The Senate Minority Leader noted that President Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors that visited Ekiti for a similar rally for the party’s candidate, Ayo Fayose, got all that was needed for a free rally from the incumbent governor in the spirit of democracy and fair play.

“We must appreciate that the beauty of any democracy is opposition. The road to tyranny must be very stiffly resisted. Our leaders of today must avoid treading the ways of the likes of Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia to the International Criminal Court of Justice after they had left office.

“What happened in Ekiti State has brought to the fore a major challenge to democracy and has raised the fundamental question as to whether we are prepared to be ruled by law or by anarchy.

“If this can happen to Governors who enjoy some level of immunity, what is the fate of the common man? Where is the assurance that we may not wake up one day only to lose our democracy and country?” Akume asked.

H, therefore, appealed to the president to respond to the situation promptly, appropriately and decisively before it spirals out of control.

Akume also said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “should equally wake up and respond to this call appropriately and decisively to ensure that they are not intimidated by soldiers or any authority in the conduct of all elections”.

The senator reminded the federal government of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in sections 40, 41 and 42 that guaranteed freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination respectively for all citizens of Nigeria.

Akume warned that the actions of the military under the command of President Jonathan was a clear sign of what was to come in 2015.