The opposition Peoples Democratic Party of Presidential candidate for the 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, has warned that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent Executive Order would lead to another recession.

The former vice president also said that Buhari banning 50 unnamed Nigerians from travelling out of the country was undemocratic. Describing the ban as another form of intimidation ahead of the elections, Atiku said he would never be in support of any act of criminality.

He called on the government to follow the rule of law in going after any Nigerian perceived to have stolen from the country’s treasury to avoid plunging the nation into anarchy.

Making all these known in a statement on Sunday, the presidential candidate said: “If past events are to be the judge, these 50 individuals will conveniently be critics and opponents of the Buhari administration.

“This is nothing short of intimidation ahead of the 2019 elections. This is what the Buhari administration did in Osun where they froze the accounts of the Adeleke family and then illegally and clandestinely paid N16.7bn to the Osun State Government to facilitate the daylight electoral robbery.”

He also said, “If the Buhari administration wants to curtail the rights of Nigerians, then it must go to court and obtain a court order. Anything short of this is unconstitutional and extrajudicial.

“This sudden dictatorial act brings to mind President Buhari’s comments for which he was condemned by the international community and by the generality of Nigerians.

“Under the Buhari administration, Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented capital flight out of the nation to the extent that we are not even listed amongst the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in the latest ranking by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

“It is salient to note that we were number one under the last Peoples Democratic Party administration.

“Funnily enough, the Buhari administration was unable to stop Abdulrasheed Maina, their financier, from leaving the country after he was illegally brought back by them and reinstated to the federal service with double promotion.

“It is precisely this type of draconian orders that have chased investors away from Nigeria and it is precisely why Nigerians will chase this recession-friendly government away from power on February 16, 2019, so we can begin the job of Getting Nigeria Working Again.”

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