‘You Have A Lot To Answer At ICC’, PDP Tells Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari to use his attendance of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute to report his administration to the Court over incessant killings and human right abuses in the country under his watch.

The PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Monday, said the Buhari administration surely has a lot of questions to answer at the Court.

The party said the fact that President Buhari is the only head of state invited to the event “shows that the world is particularly alarmed by the spate of bloodletting, extra-judicial executions, illegal arrests arbitrary detention, torture and reported disappearances as captured in the reports by the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI)”.

President Buhari, who arrived the Netherlands on Sunday, is expected to deliver a keynote address at the Solemn Hearing commemorating the anniversary of the International Criminal Court at Courtroom 1 of the ICC’s Headquarters, on Tuesday.

He met with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday afternoon, in the Hague.

“The charges President Muhammadu Buhari to use his attendance of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute to report his administration to the court over documented human right abuses, crime against humanity and killings in Nigeria under his watch,” the statement reads.

“The PDP notes that contrary to the effort by the Presidency to present the invitation as positive for the Buhari Presidency, the Buhari administration surely has a lot of questions to answer at the ICC.

“What the Presidency seeks to hide from Nigerians is that the ICC Rome Statute deals directly with critical issues of crime against humanity and genocide, which are already prevalent in Nigeria under President Buhari’s watch.

“The PDP recalls that it had earlier filed a petition at the United Nations against the Buhari administration over issues of human right violations in our country.

“The party therefore calls on the ICC to take President Buhari to task on the globally documented abuse of human rights in Nigeria, particularly, the US Department of State 2017 Human Right Report, which catalogued issues of extrajudicial and arbitrary killings; disappearances and arbitrary detentions and torture, particularly in detention facilities in Nigeria under this administration.”