There are strong indications that President Muhammadu Buhari, is making frantic efforts to probe the August 27, 1985 coup, that ousted him out of office, which was spear headed by former Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, IBB.
Recall, that the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, who was among the officers that arrested Buhari during the coup, has been languishing in detention since last year, despite several court orders, requesting for his release.
Post-Nigeria, learnt that some powerful politicians in the North have cautioned Buhari, not to go ahead with the intended probe of IBB, in order not to destabilise the region.
Buhari, who was the military Head of State for 18 months at the time, gave a hint of the impending probe, on Sunday night, during an exclusive chat with The Interview Magazine.
Recounting his ordeal, Buhari stated, that the then Head of Military Intelligence, Aliyu Gusau, was allegedly involved in some sharp practices, and that he had recommended his sack from the military leadership.
He added that, the reason he insisted on Gusau’s removal, was because he did not want his anti-corruption war to appear one-sided.
The President further disclosed however, that Gusau, Babangida and other officers, had teamed up and staged a coup, thereby ousting him from office.
“I learnt that General Ali Gusau, who was in charge of Intelligence, took an import licence from the Ministry of Commerce, which was supplies, and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe. It was worth N100, 000, a lot of money then.“When I discovered this, I confronted them and took the case to the Army Council. General Malu was the Chief of Defence Staff; Gen. Babangida was the Chief of Army Staff; Tunde Idiagbon was the Chief of Staff, Defence Headquarters, and I was the Head of State.“I said if I did not punish Gusau, it would create a problem for us. It is North versus South; majority versus minority; Muslim versus Christian. That was what it showed.“So, I said General Ali Gusau had to go. He was the Chief of Intelligence. That was why Babangida got some officers to remove me. Let him repeat his own story. Ali Gusau is still alive,” Buhari said.
Speaking on the 2016 budget fiasco, the President said he would ensure that such budget padding would never happen again.
He also slammed critics, who accused him of not having an Economic Team.
Buhari said, “What do they mean by Team? The Vice-President heads our Economic Management Team. You have a Finance Minister, a Budget and Planning Minister; a Minister of Trade and Industry and Investment; a Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a National Economic Adviser, and others, and yet some people still ask for a Team.“We will listen to everybody, but we are averse to Economic Teams, whose private sector members frequently steer government policy to suit their own narrow interests, rather than the overall national interest”.
Like Us on Facebook!
0 comments:
Post a Comment