Buhari Warns Coup Plotters

By Felix Adetoye

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned some elements in the country nursing the intention of forcefully overthrowing his government, that they will be dealt with decisively.

The warning came amidst another one from the military to officers allegedly planning to take over government. Defence Headquarters, DHQ said on Monday that the armed forces remained subordinate to the Constitution and the Commander in chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhamamdu Buhari, and that soldiers should beware of anything that is capable of undermining the current democracy.

The Presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,  Femi Adesina, in Abuja, alleged that some persons have planned to hold an illegal conference where a vote of no confidence will be passed on President Muhammadu Buhari.

It further said that some highly placed individuals in collaboration with some religious leaders and their foreign elements were working hard to undermine the sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.

Reacting to the alert earlier raised by the Department of State Services, DSS, the Presidency said that Nigerians opted for democratic rule, adding that the only acceptable way to change a democratically elected government should be through elections.

The statement read, “The Department of State Services (DSS), on Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.

“Championed by some disgruntled religious and past political leaders, the intention is to eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.

“Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians around the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed on the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil.

“The caterwauling, in recent times, by these elements, is to prepare the grounds adequately for their ignoble intentions, which are designed to cause further grief for the country.

“The agent provocateurs hope to achieve through artifice and sleight of hands, what they failed to do through the ballot box in the 2019 elections. “Nigerians have opted for democratic rule, and the only acceptable way to change a democratically elected government is through elections, which hold at prescribed times in the country. Any other way is patently illegal and even treasonable. Of course, such would attract the necessary consequences.

“These discredited individuals and groups are also in cahoots with external forces to cause maximum damage in their own country. But the Presidency, already vested with mandate and authority by Nigerians till 2023, pledges to keep the country together, even if some unruly feathers would be ruffled in the process, ” Adesina said in the statement.