Former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai
Undoubtedly from a purely partisan perspective, chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, has congratulated Nigerians on the emergence of Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-elect.
The victory awarded the former Lagos State Governor by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), according to Buratai, was a clear reflection of the will of the people.
Buratai, who is the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, made the call in a statement on Monday in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He also called on Nigerians to vote all APC candidates in the March 18 Governorship and House of Assembly Elections across the country.
Buratai commended the INEC under the leadership of Professor Mahmood Yakubu for presiding over an election in a country with the largest democracy in the African continent.
According to him, it is a job well planned and professionally executed.
Buratai stated that the vote of all Nigerians had the power to make a difference and consolidate on what he described as the wise choice made during the Presidential Election.
“At this juncture, I say with all sense of responsibility that our collective future is assured under the renewed hope, vision and mission of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“I believe the President-elect is a man of capacity, empathy, vision, and all that it takes to lead Nigeria to the promised land.
“Therefore, I encourage all Nigerians to vote for the APC in the forthcoming Governorship Elections at the states levels so that the APC can have a majority at all levels.
“Do not be part of the minority opposition as we already have the APC at the centre.
“Continuity has been achieved at the Federal level with the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-elect from the APC.
“Therefore, for effective policy implementation, progress’ security and development of our country, also vote APC at the states levels. Nigeria shall be great by the Grace of God,” he said.
It would be recalled that in the wake of the removal of Buratai and other Service Chiefs, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike Sunday said that the former Service Chiefs failed to achieve much in securing Nigeria because they were fully involved in politics.
President Muhammadu Buhari had retired the former Service Chiefs, including Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
They were replaced with then Major-General LEO Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; then Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; then Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and then Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.
Speaking on Channels Television programme Sunday Politics, Wike said that when security is politicised, as, according to him, done by the outgone Service Chiefs, nothing could be achieved.
While commending Buhari for listening to the calls of Nigerians by replacing the Service Chiefs, he admonished the new Service Chiefs to stay away from politics and focus on assisting the President in his task of securing the country.
“Like I said, if you do the right thing, I will commend you. If you don’t do the right thing, I will criticize you. Mr. President has done what every Nigerian have expected that he should have done. We are happy with what he has done but having done it, what is the next step?”
“The next step is, you that have been appointed, what is your agenda? What are your plans to make sure that security architecture is improved?”
“I have commended Mr. President for listening to Nigerians. Whether anybody likes it or not, he did and we should commend him for that even though it came late”
“Now, those that he appointed, what is expected of them? Very, very serious”.
“ They must understand that the challenges are enormous and so they have a lot of work to do. They should not involve themselves in politics”.
“Part of the problems we had with the former service chiefs was that they were involved in politics instead of concentrating on the security of the nation. They were very much involved in politics. Nobody can deny that fact. The moment you politicise security, then you are bound to have problems,” Wike said.
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