The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed concerns about the sudden change of service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu.
The party, in a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, acknowledged the President’s powers to change the service chiefs, but noted that the action raises further suspicion amid recent reports of an attempted coup.
The ADC asked President Tinubu to be honest with Nigerians about the real reasons behind what it described as the rather abrupt change in the leadership of the Nigerian military.
Naijaonpoint recalls that President Tinubu, on Friday, made sweeping changes in the nation’s military hierarchy, dismissing the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.
The President explained that he changed the nation’s service chiefs as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.
However, the ADC, in its reaction, claimed that the actions of the government in response to the dangerous rumour of a recent coup leave more to be desired in terms of accountability of the Tinubu government to Nigerians.
The opposition party noted 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.
It added 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.
The ADC, therefore, insisted that the Federal Government owes Nigerians a categorical explanation about what truly happened.
“As an opposition political party, our interest remains the stability of our country and our democracy. In the light of developments in our neighbourhood of Chad and the Sahel States, we are 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,” the party wrote.
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