The people Democratic Party has reacted to the nomination of ex-chief of Army staff Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd) as a non-career ambassadors-designate. The party has accused the president of trying to shield the ex-service men from the international criminal court investigation.
The names of the immediate past service chiefs has been forwarded to the senate as a non-career ambassadors designate, this move has not gone down well with the opposition party hence they are calling on the senate and the national assembly not to confirm their nomination.
In a statement by the opposition party, PDP on its Twitter handle lamented that the Buhari-led administration was trying to use ambassadorial immunity to shield Buratai from ICC’s investigation.
The tweet reads: “@OfficialPDPNig firmly rejects plots by the @MBuhari Presidency and the @OfficialAPCNg to use the decoy of ambassadorial appointments to shield the immediate past service chiefs from investigation over alleged killing of innocent Nigerians and crimes against humanity under their inglorious watch.
“The @OfficialPDPNig charges the Senate to eschew all partisan considerations and stand on the side of the people, particularly the victims of the atrocious regime of the ex-service chiefs by outrightly rejecting the demand by President @MBuhari to confirm them as ambassadors.
“It is indeed sacrilegious and a horrible assault on the sensibility of Nigerians that the @OfficialAPCNg government is seeking to use ambassadorial appointments as desperate measure to secure diplomatic immunity for the former commanders and protect them from investigation, arrest and possible prosecution by the @IntlCrimCourt for the atrocities committed against innocent Nigerians under their command.
“The @OfficialPDPNig asserts that appointing the former service chiefs as ambassadors would confer diplomatic immunity on them and provide them a route for escape.”
PDP also noted that nominating Buratai at a time ICC declared its readiness to probe his alleged “involvement in the crime against humanity in our country, appears to further validate the allegations against them.”
