Temidayo Akinsuyi


Those Telling Buhari Service Chiefs Can Keep Him Till 2023 Are Deceiving Him -Junaid Mohammed

Dr. Junaid Mohammed, elderstatesman and Second Republic lawmaker in this interview speaks on the latest developments in the polity, especially on the insecurity challenges in the country and issues surrounding 2023 presidency. TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI brings the excerpts:

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.Tukur Buratai’s last week warned officers of the Nigerian Army against embarking on a coup to change democratic government in the country. He also alleged that some politicians are already contacting serving Generals to subvert the government. What is your take on that?

My initial reaction is to simply dismiss what Buratai has been saying. He is trying to keep his job even though he has failed woefully. As far as I am concerned, what he said was sheer nonsense because in the first place, any politician worth the name knows that it is a crime to approach a serving or retired soldier and ask him to stage a coup. Soldiers stage coup out of many considerations one of which has to do with developments in the armed forces itself. In the history of this country and other countries where coup took place, quite a number of considerations have been responsible for soldiers staging a coup. In some areas, it has to do with the incompetence or corruption within the civilian politicians. There have been instances where soldiers stage a coup because in the course of their getting involved, their colleagues were made to succeed them. So, those colleagues who get involved with politicians like Buratai himself are the ones who should be careful. Buratai has been overstaying his welcome. He has failed woefully in terms of what he should be doing particularly in the North-East as regards Boko Haram and the North West as regards banditry. He should look at himself and answer the question, is he a worthy General? Can he be relied upon to defend the country and defend the armed forces? The answer as far as I’m concerned is no! That is the lie he must have been telling Buhari that he has been responsible for quashing coups is neither here nor there. Anyway, the idea that a soldier or a General should stay in a certain position for six years shows that the President is not sure of himself. What Buratai said is nonsense and I don’t believe any General will listen to that. If he has proof that Generals have been collaborating with politicians, he should arrest them and send them to court martial. If he can’t do that, then he should keep quiet.

What is your impression about the continued stay in office of the Service Chiefs?

The Generals have failed. They should leave and allow other Generals to come and succeed. They should stop blaming or blackmailing other Generals because Nigerians are saying these group of Service Chiefs have failed. They should leave so that others can come on board and see if the insecurity challenges can be addressed.

There are reports that the Service Chiefs may stay still 2023 when President Buhari will complete his tenure? Do you see that happening despite the clamour by the National Assembly that they should be replaced?

We will like to know what guarantee Buhari has on whether he is going to remain as President till 2023. Whatever he is afraid of can still happen to him whether in 2020 or 2023. It is always dangerous for a mere mortal to attempt to play God. Only God can guarantee that he will stay from now till 2023. There have been instances where others tried that before him and we all saw how they ended. Some of them barely escaped with their lives. So, those who are telling Buhari that the Service Chiefs can guarantee his tenure until 2023 are deceiving him and also deceiving themselves.

APC as a party is in a bloody mess. The governors are divided and unfortunately, the mode of running the party has made the governors very powerful such that if they divide themselves and split, I don’t see how the party can sustain itself. The governors have lots of money and they are very powerful. APC is in a mess and will be in greater mess in the coming months. So, I can’t see how as an individual, how service chiefs can make the president remain in power if indeed the party, which is the vehicle they all rode to their positions is in a mess. Mark my words.

The Governor of Ebonyi, David Umahi few days ago dumped the PDP for APC and it was rumoured that he is nursing presidential ambition in 2023. Do you think that ambition if true can be realised?

First and foremost, given the treacherous nature of Nigerian politics, a member of the political elite jumping from one political party to another has ceased to be news. That should no longer be news. Apparently, overwhelming number of Nigerians who are in the political class are in politics not because of service or because they believe in what can be done for the country in terms of advancing her cause, improving her lot and making sure we have a reliable security system and a society that is at peace with itself. That is not the motive of most people who are in politics today. The culture of jumping from one political party to another is inherently a PDP culture. I don’t believe that anybody who has been in the PDP and jumped the boat by moving to another party has the mouth to speak. They brought the culture of defection into Nigeria’s political system. They jump into a party and jump out on the basis of their own personal interest and not the interest of the people or country. So, there is nothing in what Umahi did by defecting from PDP to APC. Hundreds of others have done so before. Umahi is the governor of Ebonyi state. Out of the five South-East states, I have been observing them for the last five to 10 years. Quite a number of them have been very direct in the pursuit of Igbo presidency at all cost. Quite a number of them have also been very realistic in the assessment of what will be the fate of Ebonyi people if they follow the rest of the Igbo irredentists to go and pursue Igbo presidency at all cost or else will make trouble.

They have not been adopting that approach and have even publicly said when they had some people from the South-South and South- East in power; they had nothing to show for it. They also said that it was actually people from outside the South-East, particularly people from the North and people from the South-West who facilitated the creation of Ebonyi state. They have also said that when their fellow Igbos had power, they left them in the lurch. I also remember one of their former governors said that if you are travelling in the South-East and you see a girl who is not in school but is selling groundnut or plantain chips on the road, she is likely from Ebonyi state. The governor also repeated the same claim when he became a Minister. So, we have to be very careful about some of these things because frankly speaking, Nigerian politics has never been built on principles. We have never believed in ideology. So, I’m not surprised at the defection of Umahi from PDP to APC.
https://www.independent.ng/apc-will-be-in-greater-mess-in-coming-months-junaid-mohammed/

Of course the president only care about himself.He does not care if Nigerians are safe or not yet he can swiftly give BH terrorists amnesty and forgive bandits.

Buhari is chief sympathiser of Boko Haram !
If he like let him stop the killing of his people or not , that is his business.
My only concern is the resources of the Niger deltan that is being wasted !

abi

PMB toppled a democratically elected president. Why is he afraid of same treatment

What have been the achievement of these chiefs so far to warrant them staying that long?

Let the north keep there chiefs

This one head still dey house small

Keeping those service thieves till 2023 could be disastrous for the nation.

Majority of them are only interested the money meant for arms diversion than fighting and eradicating miscreants and terrorists

Say it as it is

Service chiefs must resign

In this period of despair, who could have thought of planning coup

It is impossible for Buhari to remain in office till 2023. Impossible!

Why do you say so? 2023 is just around the corner

Nomorelove:
It is impossible for Buhari to remain in office till 2023. Impossible!