Nigeria heading for anarchy, Buhari warns
Former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, has raised the alarm over the threat of impeachments in some states, declaring that anarchy looms in the country.
In a statement dated July 20, 2014 and released yesterday, entitled: “Pull Back Nigeria from the Brink,” Buhari stated that the impeachment of Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, and the threat of impeachments hanging on the necks of some other All Progressives Congress (APC) governors do not augur well for the nation’s democracy.
The 2011 presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and APC chieftain said the harassment of APC governors was aimed at stifling the opposition.
He stated: ‘’Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or the utilisation of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.”
Stating that as a former Head of state, he had spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, he said: “But indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits. I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as a former Head of state to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty.”
Stressing that history would not be kind to him if he sits back while things turn bad, Buhari said: “I owe it as matter of duty and honour, and in the interest of our nation, to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading,” adding:
“I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a state governor, a minister, a Head of state, a man who has occupied many other sensitive posts and a politician. I have been a close participant and witness to Nigeria’s political history since independence in 1960.”
Commenting on what the country has gone through, he stated: ‘’Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilise the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics. Our nation has suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes.”
The former head of stated warned that “dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling, and these have manifested in Nasarawa, where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Gov. Murtala Nyako.”
He stated that the protest in Nasarawa was a “sign of what to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for impeachment,” adding: “In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy.”
On efforts he had made to keep Nigeria as one, Buhari stated: “I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to ensure the birth of the democracy we are practising today.” He warned: “Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low, a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system. Let no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on which the nation is sitting. It is time for all concerned to spare a thought for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and aspirations come to reality, within the general context of nationhood.”
In a statement dated July 20, 2014 and released yesterday, entitled: “Pull Back Nigeria from the Brink,” Buhari stated that the impeachment of Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, and the threat of impeachments hanging on the necks of some other All Progressives Congress (APC) governors do not augur well for the nation’s democracy.
The 2011 presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and APC chieftain said the harassment of APC governors was aimed at stifling the opposition.
He stated: ‘’Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or the utilisation of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.”
Stating that as a former Head of state, he had spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, he said: “But indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits. I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as a former Head of state to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty.”
Stressing that history would not be kind to him if he sits back while things turn bad, Buhari said: “I owe it as matter of duty and honour, and in the interest of our nation, to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading,” adding:
“I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a state governor, a minister, a Head of state, a man who has occupied many other sensitive posts and a politician. I have been a close participant and witness to Nigeria’s political history since independence in 1960.”
Commenting on what the country has gone through, he stated: ‘’Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilise the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics. Our nation has suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes.”
The former head of stated warned that “dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling, and these have manifested in Nasarawa, where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Gov. Murtala Nyako.”
He stated that the protest in Nasarawa was a “sign of what to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for impeachment,” adding: “In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy.”
On efforts he had made to keep Nigeria as one, Buhari stated: “I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to ensure the birth of the democracy we are practising today.” He warned: “Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low, a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system. Let no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on which the nation is sitting. It is time for all concerned to spare a thought for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and aspirations come to reality, within the general context of nationhood.”
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