The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Friday summoned top commanders of the service to the Army headquarters for an emergency security meeting especially on the recent allegation that some top officers approached a militant group to solicit support to topple President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.
Sources say President Buhari since the annoucement of the possible attempts to topple his government has been in a panic mood with the appointment of new security officers.
The President has already shown that he is particular about security firing Abdulrahman Mani who was then his Chief Security Officer in July 2015. Abdulkarim Dauda and Kayode Sikiru Akande, both promoted from the position of Assistant Commissioner of Police to Deputy Commissioner of Police, serve as the Chief Personal Security Officer to the President and the Officer in Charge of Presidential Movement respectively.
The meeting was attended by the general officers commanding the seven divisions of the Nigerian Army, the principal staff officers and operational commanders across the country.
The General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Army, Kaduna, Maj.-Gen Adeniyi Oyebade, who addressed journalists after the meeting, said the Army had taken a decision at the beginning of the Fourth Republic to abide by its code of conduct.
He assured Nigerians that there would be no coup in the Army and indeed the whole of the nation’s Armed Forces.
Oyebade stressed that the Army would continue to remain apolitical and would be loyal to the constitution and the President and Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
He added that the decision of the service to subordinate itself to civil authority had not changed and would never change.
Oyebade insisted that the Army was determined to get to the root of the rumour that officers were involved in a plot to truncate democratic governance in the country.
He said, “The Chief of Army Staff summoned his top commanders across the Army for a quick meeting this morning. Essentially, the meeting was to review the security situation in the country and to let us know some of the reorganisations that have taken place over the last few days.
“As you must have also heard in the last few days, the rumour of coup or no coup; we want to assure all our citizens that the Nigerian Army remains apolitical.
“As far as we are concerned, we have decided since the beginning of the Fourth Republic to abide by our code of conduct and to remain subordinate to the civil authorities. That has not changed and it will not change.
“So, I want to assure our people that they should be assured that the issue of coup would not happen within the ranks of the Army and I can say also within the ranks of the members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”
