A group of
concerned military and intelligence officers have contacted
SaharaReporters to
voice their deep concern about new schemes being fine-tuned by a cabal within
and outside Aso Rock to retain power even if President Muhammadu Buhari’s
health crisis renders him permanently incapable of reclaiming the presidency.
The officers
had earlier drawn attention to moves by a coalition of forces around Senator
Bukola Saraki and Abba Kyari, President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, to hijack
power in the event that the ailing president’s failing health leads to a power
tussle.
They now
claim that some ambitious top government officials, members of the cabal, have
designed a strategy to wrest power from Mr. Osinbajo using a combination of
propaganda and some military-backed action.
The security
sources remarked that the present leadership vacuum in Nigeria was the same
scenario during the Presidency of the late Musa Yar’Adua. As Mr. Yar’Adua was
sick and languished in a Saudi hospital, the cabal around him erected a strong
barrier between him and Nigerians, ensuring that the people were kept in the
dark about their president’s deteriorating condition.
The sources
asserted that, during President Yar’Adua‘s prolonged medical leave in Saudi
Arabia, the then military leadership saw the tenuous situation in the country
as ripe for a power takeover. According to them, the then Chief of Army Staff,
Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau, set up informal contact and action
groups in Lagos with Ikeja cantonment as the focal point for controlling the
commands in the larger Lagos area. They said a second group was established in
Kaduna and Jaji while the third group was set up in Abuja where the control
center was located. They said regular meetings took place during the first and
second quarters of 2010. the current National Security Adviser, Mohammed
Babagana Monguno a retired Nigerian Army Major General played a major role in
smuggling a braindead Yar'adua into the Aso Rock Villa during that period.
However, the
sources said that the then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan received solid
intelligence briefing about the military’s plan and ordered his trusted
associates in the security services to institute around-the-clock monitoring of
the situation within and outside the military. When it became clear that the
situation was on the verge of turning dangerous, Mr. Jonathan arranged to send
General Dambazau on an assignment abroad and then retired him before he could
conclude the mission. The then president’s move was seen as a masterstroke that
saved the country’s nascent democracy, according to the security group.
They warned
that the country’s current circumstances are similar to the Yar’Adua days,
adding that a new set of power-hungry actors in top government positions
believe that Mr. Buhari’s health problems provide another opportunity to try
their luck at grabbing power.
The officers
noted that, in May 2017, current Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur
Buratai, raised the scare of a coup d’état, adding that, two months later,
nobody had been arrested and no further revelations made about the ostensible
coup plan. Describing General’s Buratai’s talk as “a fake coup scare,” the
security sources said it was part of the cabal’s propaganda to test the
prospect of seizing power with military might.
The officers
stated that Mr. Buratai’s high profile interview on BBC’s “HardTalk” was
arranged by a political cabal to burnish his image, but his performance was so
awful that the outside world was disappointed.
The sources
claimed that the recent launch of a book on Brigadier General Zakariya
Maimalari in Abuja on July 3, 2017, provided a cover for members of the cabal
to converge in Abuja to further polish their power takeover strategy.
The sources
urged Mr. Osinbajo to order his trusted security and intelligence hands to be
attentive to any small detail or unnecessary movements in order not to be
caught unawares by the machinations of those who seek to exploit the vacuum
created by Mr. Buhari’s absence to enthrone themselves in power.
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