ADC admonishes Tinubu not to seize on coup rumour to witch-hunt and silence opposition amid bad governance
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“By keeping quiet, the government has deliberately allowed the coup story to fester for whatever reason.
“What is clear, however, is that the government is exploiting the coup story to divert attention from the real issues of mis-governance in the country and to curry sympathy.
“Even more significantly, subsequent unattributed media reports purportedly implicating unnamed politicians in the so-called plot now provide a pretext for the government to clamp down on opposition figures or mount undue surveillance on them.
“We understand that the APC government is desperate. But such desperation must never be allowed to endanger our democracy or undermine the democratic rights of citizens.
“The ADC therefore calls on the federal government to immediately clarify the true nature of the alleged coup. Government has a duty to decisively quash the swirling rumour.
“Conversely, if indeed there has been any such threat to national security, the government has a duty to be transparent about it and brief the nation accordingly.
“Government must desist from weaponising national security as a pretext to silence opposition and political dissent” –Abdullahi, ADC National Publicity Secretary.
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Rumour of a military coup should not be used as a cover to witch-hunt and silence opposition voices simply agitating for good governance, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has admonished President Bola Tinubu.
Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on October 4 confirmed in a statement the detention of 16 officers over “security breach” but dismissed report of a coup plot and insisted the matter was under investigation and limited to routine discipline.
But Premium Times and Sahara Reporters disclosed the officers, one a Brigadier-General, were reportedly detained in connection with an alleged coup attempt against Tinubu.
On October 20, a jittery police hierarchy claimed to have a court order – obtained at the last-minute – to restrain protesters for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), which emboldened police to brutalise peaceful marchers in Abuja.
Police officers tear-gassed and fired at the protesters, and arrested eight of them, including the lawyer for Kanu who has been in detention since 2021 over alleged treason.
Against that backdrop, the ADC cautioned Tinubu against escalating the news of an alleged coup plot as a pretext to swoop on opposition leaders and begin extra-judicial surveillance on critical voices.
ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi explained in a statement that the party takes seriously any threat to Nigeria’s democratic order but warned that the Federal Government must not exploit this moment to instill fear, silence dissenting voices, or engineer political advantage under the guise of national security.
“The ADC has been closely monitoring the reports of an alleged coup plot involving arrested military officers and subsequent media claims that a former Southern governor is under investigation for allegedly funding the suspects,” the statement said.
“While we vehemently oppose any effort to undermine Nigeria’s constitutional order, we are equally concerned about the potential misuse of such allegations to justify political witch-hunts, suppress dissent, or manipulate public sentiment.
“We are particularly concerned about the conflicting signals coming from government sources, especially as the Defence Headquarters has publicly denied ever mentioning a coup plot, despite widespread media reports to the contrary.
“Such inconsistency raises serious fears that the coup narrative may have been politically engineered.
“The ADC is particularly concerned that the federal government has not deemed it fit to make a categorical statement on this very serious matter, especially after the military authorities had repeatedly denied that there was such a threat to the government.
“By keeping quiet, the government has deliberately allowed the coup story to fester for whatever reason.
“What is clear, however, is that the government is exploiting the coup story to divert attention from the real issues of mis-governance in the country and to curry sympathy.
“Even more significantly, subsequent unattributed media reports purportedly implicating unnamed politicians in the so-called plot now provide a pretext for the government to clamp down on opposition figures or mount undue surveillance on them.
“We understand that the APC government is desperate. But such desperation must never be allowed to endanger our democracy or undermine the democratic rights of citizens.
“The ADC therefore calls on the federal government to immediately clarify the true nature of the alleged coup. Government has a duty to decisively quash the swirling rumour.
“Conversely, if indeed there has been any such threat to national security, the government has a duty to be transparent about it and brief the nation accordingly.
“Government must desist from weaponising national security as a pretext to silence opposition and political dissent.
“The ADC is resolute in its opposition to dictatorship of any form, whether military dictatorship or its civilian variant. We therefore support any legitimate action that may be taken in defence of our constitution and our democracy.
“In the same vein, we oppose any ploy by the government to intimidate legitimate voices under the guise of national security.”
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