Former representative of Kaduna Central in the senate, Mr. Shehu Sani has joined the league of prominent Nigerians condemning the trial of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Mr. Omoyele Sowore.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Sani who now heads African Centre for Peace and Development described Sowore’s trial as trial as “unnecessary and uncalled for.”
He said there is a climate of fear, intimidation and intolerance in the country adding that the nation’s democracy is imperiled by a growing state culture of intolerance for dissent and opposing opinions.
He further described the trial as “electrocution of freedom” and challenged the “ruling establishment” to defeat Sowore with superior ideas and not prosecute him if it “is confident of its moral standing and support base.”
“Sowore’s trial is unnecessary and uncalled for because it would only further stain the human rights record of this administration, diminish and dent the moral standing of our country.
“There is a climate of fear, intimidation and intolerance in the country and this contradicts the philosophy of progressivism the ruling establishment purports.
“The nation’s democracy is imperiled by a growing state culture of intolerance for dissent and opposing opinions.
“The President’s desire to build and leave behind an anti-corruption legacy and tower should not be cited in the human rights graveyard.
“If the ruling establishment is confident of its moral standing and support base, it should defeat Sowore with superior ideas and not persecute him.
“Sowore’s charges amount to electrocution of freedom.
“The democratic credentials of any elected government is not simply about the legitimacy of its mandate, but about the degree of its tolerance to dissent and its compliance with the fundamental principles of freedom.
“I appeal to the federal government to drop the charges filed against Sowore.
“Our democracy is becoming inhabitable and inhospitable to its ideal content.
“When a state equates dissent to disloyalty, it progressively decays under the weight of its courtiers.”
