The opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) has asked President Bola Tinubu to be honest with Nigerians on the real reasons behind the sudden and rather abrupt change in the leadership of the Nigerian military.
The ADC national publicity secretary, Mallam Bolaji, said this in a statement on Friday.
He said while the party acknowledges that the President, as the Commander-in-Chief, reserves the power to make such changes as he may deem fit, the party was somewhat concerned that the change was coming in the wake of widespread rumours of an attempted coup.
He reiterated the party’s earlier view that the reactions of the government to the dangerous rumour have veered between deliberate obfuscation and outright confusion in a matter that required crystal clarity.
“We note that nearly all the Service Chiefs that have been removed were appointed only 28 months ago, with the current Chief of Defence Staff himself appointed just a year ago as Chief of Army Staff.
“We also note that this kind of decision has serious and far-reaching implications for stability within the ranks and therefore could not have been taken without strong reasons.
“Our position remains therefore that the Federal Government owes Nigerians a categorical explanation about what truly happened,” ADC spokesman stated.
Abdullahi added that ADC’s interest remained the stability of the country and its democracy.
It, however, added that in the light of developments in the neighbourhood of Chad and the Sahel States, the party was gravely concerned.
“Without prejudice to what might have happened in recent weeks, it is obvious that the Tinubu administration is distracted. Insecurity continues to spread with terrorist groups staging a comeback in some parts of the country, while bandits reign supreme in other parts. But this is not the reason the government is changing the Service Chiefs. Instead, the administration’s attention appears fully focused on regime politics rather than securing the lives of Nigerians.
“This action of near wholesale change in the leadership of the country’s military, if anything, will only further promote rumours and conspiracy theories.
“We therefore reiterate our earlier position that the Federal Government must address the issue transparently and reassure Nigerians that our democracy is not under threat,” ADC added.
