Addressing newsmen in Abuja, he noted that some major political actors, who lost at this year’s general elections, have been issuing public threats to instigate actions against the presidential inauguration.
“The Nigeria Police Force and national intelligence community have been closely monitoring activities of these political elite, as well as other elements, who have formed themselves into unpatriotic brands whose only fantasy, in recent times, is to subvert our national security interests.
“In so doing, they seem to be bent on deploying extra-judicial and undemocratic means to truncate our democratic heritage in advancement of their narrow and personal political considerations.
“The beauty of democracy lies not just in the freedom of the citizens to freely exercise their franchise within the electoral cycle, it is also hinged on the right of aggrieved political actors to submit grievances on the electoral outcome to the judicial process for consideration,” he said.
The credentials of a true democrat must, therefore, be measured by his or her level of patriotism and willingness to manifest the culture of submitting to rule of law, peace, democratic values and the judicial process.
“These are integral and critical components of the political process,” he said.
The IGP continued: “It is also expected that a true democrat will subsume his or her personal political ambition under overriding national security and democratic interests of the country. Unfortunately, the public utterances of some political actors and their current attempts at inciting public protests with a view to creating national tension ahead of the presidential swearing-in do not only negate these values, but are also manifestly subversive, undemocratic and unconstitutional.
“Having submitted their political grievances to the judicial process, it remains concerning that some of the political gladiators are still bent on engaging other extra-judicial means to advance their interests in a manner that questions their overall intentions, as well as the patriotic and democratic credentials they project.”
Usman warned politicians with subversive agenda and their collaborators and foot soldiers to jettison premeditated attempts to create tension in the polity with a view to derailing the May 29 presidential inauguration.
