Coalition of Nigeria Elders for Peace and Good Governance (CONEPAGG) Chides Buratai Over Coup Statement

The Coalition of Nigeria Elders for Peace and Good Governance (CONEPAGG), have described the statement by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai’s where he warned officers of the Nigerian Army against embarking on a coup, as a desperate move to save the service chief’s sack .

Recall that the Chief of Army Staff, had while decorating the 39 newly promoted Major Generals, said he was aware that some generals were being approached and his eyes are on them.

He had vowed that the Nigerian Army will never tolerate any agent of destabilization bent on scuttling the current democratic dispensation.

But in a statement signed by National Coordinator CONEPAGG, Engr. Zana Goni and the geopolitical coordinators on Saturday in Abuja, the elders insisted that Buratai’s alarm was an imaginary thought aimed at diverting Nigerians attention from the failures of the services.

According to them, Buratai’s warning was unnecessary since the Nigerian military has shown all allegiance not only to President Muhammadu Buhari, but the entire constitutional orders in the country.

They noted that it was meant to deceive the president into believing the service chiefs were his saving grace to prevent a possible sack over their inabilities to secure the country from insurgents, armed bandits, kidnappers among other adversaries.

The elders equally called on the National Assembly not to pass the pending 2021 Budget, until the president implements the resolutions of the two chambers of the legislature that demanded the sack of the security chiefs.

The statement reads in part: “Nobody is planning any coup,as a matter of fact, Nigerians are happy with democracy. They are only fade up with insecurity and all the service chiefs sack who in spite of their seeming failures, have failed to toe the path of honour and resign from their offices.

“While we appreciate his right and authority to warn his officers against engaging in any act inimical to the growth and sustenance of democracy in our country, we must say that Nigerians and all its security services have moved beyond coup.”

“The alarm by the Chief of Army Staff is imaginary, with desperate intent to divert attention of not only the President But also Nigerians who have all seen the clear failures of the security chiefs and have all come out with a resolve that they be shown the way out immediately.

” We wish to state here that no matter the antics of the Buratai and his likes, Nigerians of good conscience have refused to be gullible to their antics which we consider unpatriotic to the country given the number of people dying and those harmed in one way or the order besides the unquantifiable destructions of both public and private assets.”

The elders recalled with regret that:” Every time there’s a call for removal of service chiefs, they will always come up with one big false story or the other basically on operation just to divert Nigerians’ attention, all to buy time from the Presidency.”

“But this time, this has failed. We demand the immediate sack of the service chiefs who have overstayed their welcome and also bereft of fresh ideas.

“We humbly once again, call on the president to listen to the voice of reason by sacking the service chiefs with a view not only to injecting fresh ideas into solutions to the insecurity in the country but also transform our security sector.”