The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to explain the sudden sacking of Service Chiefs amidst coup rumours, stressing that any thing to the contrary will amount to a threat to democracy.
The party said that while it recognises the President’s powers to dismiss service chiefs at his discretion, the decision has sparked much curiosity.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, in Abuja on Friday, the party expressed concern that the sacked officers had been appointed barely a year ago.
It said: “While we acknowledge that the President, as the Commander-in-Chief, reserves the power to make such changes as he may deem fit, we are somewhat concerned that this change is coming in the wake of widespread rumours of an attempted coup.
“We reiterate our earlier view that the reactions of government to the dangerous rumour have veered between deliberate obfuscation and outright confusion in a matter that required crystal clarity.
“We note 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.
“We also note 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.”
ADC said the Federal Government owes Nigerians a categorical explanation about what truly happened that has led to the reshuffle.
“It indicates that an opposition political party is interested in the stability of the country and 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 said.
