The Nigerian Army has described as baseless, reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, was planning to head an interim government in case the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) wins the February 14 presidential elections.
A statement yesterday by the acting Director, Army-Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, said: “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to spurious and unsubstantiated allegations being circulated particularly, in the social media about the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff and some serving senior officers.
“Any discerning mind would notice that these false and baseless allegations are calculated attempts by unpatriotic elements to divide the Nigerian Army, create disaffection among its ranks and distract the service from its avowed constitutional duty of defending the territorial integrity of our great nation”, he added.
The army spokesperson further stated that: “Unfortunately for these individuals, their effort which are reminiscent of the NADECO days are obviously aimed at reversing the gains made and the renewed efforts in fighting terrorism and insurgency in the country is failing woefully”.
Col. Usman also reacted to another online report, which claimed that two serving Major Generals of the Nigerian Army had tendered “a letter of resignation” over an alleged disagreement with the Chief of Army Staff during a meeting to fine tune plans on the purported interim government.
“The medium neither mentioned the names of the senior officers concerned, nor the time and place of the alleged meeting with the Chief of Army Staff.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there has been no resignation whatsoever in the Nigerian Army on account of the disagreement with the Chief of Army Staff”, Colonel Usman stressed.