Defence Chief rules out military coup in Nigeria

Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Alex Badeh, has ruled out the possibility of a military coup as Nigeria transits from the current administration to another, saying the era of military takeover of governance in the country is gone for good.

Air Chief Marshal Badeh spoke on Thursday while receiving members of the National Peace Committee for the 2015 general elections. He stressed that the Nigerian military is resolved to continuously respecting democratic institutions in the country.

The CDS, who noted “The era of military rule is gone forever in this country. In fact if there was military rule I am not sure if I could have been here,” said, “We are the armed forces of Nigeria and not that of any political party and will be subordinate to the constituted authorities.”

He added that the military leadership is a product of democratic governance and would not embark on activities that could jeopardize Nigeria’s electoral process.

“I remember when we asked for more time to embark on what we are doing but there was a lot of misgiving. But we are happy that we are able to ensure that some exercise their choice of who to govern them. Even though we did not achieve 100 per cent, but we are able to secure the major ones,” he said.

Badeh went on to assure Nigerians that the military will remain non-partisan in executing its responsibilities during the governorship and state assembly elections on Saturday.

Speaking during the visit, former military head of state and leader of the national peace committee, Abdulsalami Abubakar, commended the military for providing adequate security which helped in ensuring free, fair and violence-free elections.

He equally applauded members of the armed forces for liberating most communities in the North East hitherto occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.

A member of the committee, Ibrahim Gambari, equally commended the military for its professionalism during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and called for improvement during the forthcoming gubernatorial election.

While noting that the military has been instrumental in enforcing peace in other countries including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, he said, “So you have distinguished yourself and proved your professionalism and all we ask is for you to enhance that in the forthcoming elections. We also commend you by ensuring that the people in the North East have the rights to exercise their franchise and we want you to ensure that the job is finished.”