Outspoken senator representing Bayelsa East Senatorial District, Senator Ben Bruce has been blocked from exchanging pleasantries with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock on Monday, May 30, 2016.
It is presumed that the order to block Ben Bruce from greeting the president came from Buhari as other members of the Nigerian National Assembly who attended a dinner to mark the 2016 democracy day were allowed to greet the president without any security blocking them.
At a dinner with President Buhari at the Presidential villa. pic.twitter.com/f7tMwtnWBY
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) May 30, 2016
Senator Ben Murray Bruce is a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party in Nigeria and has been vocal in his criticism of the Buhari administration. On Sunday, he tweeted that Buhari has spent his first year in office offering excuses.
Ben Bruce took to Twitter, where he has a large following and has stood out as the most influential PDP senator on the micro-blogging website to explain what happened at the villa.
I was at the Presidential villa today. Went to the President's table. DSS wouldn't allow me greet him but let another Senator greet him!
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) May 30, 2016
“I was at the Presidential villa today. Went to the President’s table. DSS wouldn’t allow me greet him but let another Senator greet him,” he tweeted.
“My critics say I shouldn’t criticize the president openly, so I go and meet him one on one and I’m blocked. Am I not a Nigerian citizen?
“If PMB’s handlers selectively block access to him, he runs the risk of being surrounded only by sycophants!
“I have nothing against the President, however, nobody is too important to be criticized and my mouth will never be silenced!”
My critics say I shouldn't criticize the President openly, so I go and meet him one on one and I'm blocked. Am I not a Nigerian citizen?
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) May 30, 2016
Kadir, if PMB's handlers selectively block access to him, he runs the risk of being surrounded only by sycophants! pic.twitter.com/5MDW5rZwYx
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) May 30, 2016
Ben Bruce tweeted a criticism of the president few hours before the dinner. “It’s ‘fantastically corrupt’ that Nigeria maintains a 10 plane Presidential fleet whereas the PM of a rich nation like UK flies commercial!”
Its 'fantastically corrupt' that Nigeria maintains a 10 plane Presidential fleet whereas the PM of a rich nation like UK flies commercial!
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) May 30, 2016
