Army has no desire to truncate Nigeria’s democracy — COAS.

 

 

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Tuesday, restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to defend the nation’s choice of government, democracy.

 

Addressing participants at a seminar on career planning and management organised by the Army headquarters, the COAS said the Army has no plans to truncate democracy in the country.

 

He charged officers of the Nigerian Army to remain above board in the discharge of their professional duties.

 

“Permit me to seize this opportunity to reiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, particularly the Nigerian Army has come to terms with the country’s choice of democracy as the preferred system of governance,” he said during his address to officers.

 

“We are therefore agents of democracy and have no desire to truncate it. The Nigerian Army will continue to defend our constitution and not suspend it for whatever reason.

 

“It is the duty of our elected leaders to lead while the military does its job as enshrined in our constitution. Nigerian Army personnel must therefore remain professional and be above board as they discharge their constitutional duties.”

 

The commitment by the COAS followed the series of putsches in West and Central Africa which have experienced at least seven military takeovers in the last four years.

 

Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger Republic — all members of the Economic Community of Western African States ( ECOWAS) — have pulled out from the regional bloc in last four years. Outside of West Africa, Chad and Sudan also experienced military coups in 2021.

However, a faction of the pan-Yoruba social political group, Afenifere, led by Pa Ayo Adebanjo, on Tuesday, said that its blueprint for restructuring of the country is ready.

The group hinted that its idea of restructuring the country tilts towards the adoption of a parliamentary system of government which whixh it said would not only cut down billions spent campaigning for elections but also cut down significantly the huge cost of governance as obtainable under the federal system of government

 

This is just as the splinter group also said that President Bola Tinubu has no excuse not to run with the vision of restructuring the country having been at the vanguard of the struggle and beneficiary of the call for restructuring within this democratic dispensation.

The group’s Publicity Secretary, Mogaji Adejumo, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists after the caucus meeting of the Afenifere held at the Isanya Ogbo Ijebu residence of Adebanjo.

The meeting, which was presided over by Adebanjo, had in attendance Oba Oladipo Olaitan, the Deputy leader of the group, Chief Supo Sonibare, Treasurer, Chief Mrs Kofoworola Bucknor, former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Prince Justice Faloye, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Chief Segun Ojo, Bashorun Segun Sanni among others.

Adejumo said, “What we have here today is a caucus meeting of Afenifere and the germane national issue that took centre stage was restructuring.

 

“Sometimes last year November, a committee under the leadership of Oba Oladipo Olaitan was set up to aggregate Afenifere’s view on restructuring and today, the committee said that the report is ready

 

 

“However, this report will still be considered by the executives of the association after which it will be taken to the general assembly where all the members will get to know what we mean by restructuring as far Afenifere as is concerned and we shall then print the report, do our various publicity on it for people to be enlightened on what we believe on restructuring.

 

“Tinubu himself is a product of Afenifere, he was elected on the platform and ideology of Afenifere. He took the Federal Government to court under the leadership of former President Obasanjo 31 times in an effort to implement restructuring.

“He didn’t do anything when former President Buhari was there for eight years, probably he was bidding his time because he knew that northerners won’t implement restructuring because they thought it won’t favour them.

 

“But Tinubu is there now as the President, he is answerable to us all as a product of Afenifere and as what the whole Yoruba did under the Afenifere in Adamasingba, Ibadan, Oyo State in 2017 that what we want is nothing but restructuring.

 

“For this 2017 meeting, we invited the South-South, South East and the Middle Belt and this is the beginning of what we called the Southern and Middlebelt Leaders Forum.

 

“So we are still meeting at this forum when other zones will also submit their recommendations, so what we took to 2014 Confab is what we are submitting even though some things have changed. We will then take it before the National Assembly for their approval.

 

Asked to give a hint on Afenifere’s report, Adejumo said “What we are actually proposing is a parliamentary system of government. Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo didn’t have to campaign in Ijebu Igbo, all he had to do was to win in Ikenne to become a member of the House and whoever is the leader of the party became the Prime Minister or the Premier.

“The old Western Region was from Badagry in Lagos to Asaba in present-day Delta State but he never had to be campaigning everywhere as we do now. It makes governance so cheap, that nobody will have to spend billions on campaigns again. You will need as much as N100m to campaign for local government chairmanship elections.

“So, under this system, you will from your constituency come into the House of Assembly and it is from here you will choose your Ministers and your Commissioners, you are not going to be appointing anyone again from outside but those that have been elected into the house of Assembly.

“With this system of government, we are going to be spending one-tenth of the humongous resources we are using to run this presidential system of government.”

Troops kill notorious terrorists’ leader, others in Katsina

However, the Nigerian Army troops have neutralised a notorious terrorist leader,  Maikusa, who was the second-in-command to the infamous terrorist known as Modi Modi in Katsina.

 

This is contained in a statement by the Director, Army Public Relations, Maj -Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu on Tuesday in Abuja.

 

Nwachukwu said the troops gunned down Maikusa and three other terrorists on Monday, during an counter at Kurfi and Safana Local Government Areas of the state.

 

He said the ferocious operation also resulted in the successful clearance of terrorists’ enclaves in those areas.

 

According to him, troops encountered vehement resistance from the violent extremists but gallantly overpowered the terrorists with superior firepower,  neutralising some while others fled in disarray.

 

“After the firefight, the troops recovered two AK-47 rifles, three magazines, 65 rounds of 7.62 mm special ammunition, a locally fabricated gun and camouflage uniform.

 

“In continuation of the clearance operations, troops also destroyed terrorists’ camps in  Wurma, Shaiskawa, Yauni, and Dogon Marke villages in Kurfi Local Government Area, as well as Ummadau and Zakka villages in Safana Local Government Area.

 

“Troops have continued to maintain an aggressive posture in the general area to clear remnants of the terrorists cell to ensure safety and security in the region,” he said. (NAN)