After reports were published of an alleged statement by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, that the military was going to overthrow democracy and takeover power, the senator has released a statement to clear his name and explain the statement in context.
On the 7th of March, Ike Ekweremadu had raised alarm over cases of lawmakers being targets of alleged state sponsored attacks.
The lawmaker had warned that if the many altercations to democracy are not checked soon enough, there is going to be a truncation in democracy.
“Last two weeks, we were talking about the house of a senator which was destroyed in Kaduna State. We were talking about how security operatives laid siege on Dino Melaye. We are talking about Kwankwaso, who was stopped from going to his state, which he had ruled for eight years.
“In Kaduna, Shehu Sani cannot organise a meeting, and we are talking of democracy. And somebody says this democracy is going to continue this way. It is not. People are holding meetings everyday on how to deal with each and every one of us here.
“There is the need for the international community to know this because they helped restore democracy to Nigeria. Some people are trying to truncate that entire democracy. We are now second-class citizens, not just in Africa but also in West Africa.”
Ikweremadu is not the only one to have referred to the military in this manner in recent time.
On the 2nd of February, while briefing Journalists at the Kukah Centre in Abuja, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev. Hassan Kukah warned politicians to clean up their act so as to keep soldiers in the barrack.
‘’I think it is a measure of the faith of the military itself on the urgency of democratisation that has kept them in the barracks. But I think the politicians and the political class cannot take this patience for granted.” He said.
“We don’t understand how far corruption goes. We don’t understand how corruption can destabilise the polity. We forget that military coups have taken place before all over this continent simply because a military officer is about to be (court) marshalled for one crime or the other. To protect himself, he stages a coup. This happened in Wast Africa, Central Africa and so on. We have had cases of civilians who triggered military coups simply because of their need for power. When you think of the amount of money that has been stolen in this country, enough to fund the budget for a couple of years, then you know that there is enough illegal money floating around to destabilise the nation completely.” He said
Misinterpretation and Reactions
When the report was released, Nigerians reacted immediately, both criticising the statement – which had been misconstrued to imply that the senator was making a call for military coup – and threatening severe actions should the military take over.
The Defence Headquarters immediately denounced any political ambitions by officers of the military and issued an official statement that it was not harbouring any plans to disrupt democracy in Nigeria.
Acting Director, Defence Information (DDI), Brig. Gen John Agim, in a statement in Abuja, said the present men and officers in the Nigerian military were thoroughbred professionals with no ambition in politics whatsoever.
Agim noted that Ekweremadu’s statement, even as it appeared “cautionary and sincere in the atmosphere of discourse,” was “however derogatory to the Army in the expression used and by extension to the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
While reiterating that the military was in complete and total subordination to democratic governance, the DHQ said: “Shortly, after the transition from a military to a democratically elected government in 1999, officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, who were quasi-political, were honourably eased out of service.’’
Also reacting to the statement by the senator, the Advanced People’s Democratic Alliance (APDA) issued a statement describing the remark on the possibility of the military to takeover power in Nigeria as shocking. The statement read:
“Our democracy is evolving and we all must be patient to see it mature to a stage that will be the envy of all.
“No doubt we are still far from where we should be as a nation, but we are moving towards it and all stakeholders in the Nigeria project must be part of this journey of nation building and not be involved in destroying our hard-earned democracy.
“We are aware of the challenges being faced by Nigerians but that those challenges are surmountable if we all unite towards nation building and contribute our quota at any area of endeavour we may find ourselves.
“We should all remember that we have no other country than Nigeria and we must do things that promote unity and prosperity of the country at all times.
“Our democracy should be protected and strengthened by all citizens of our country because it is the only vehicle that will take us to our prosperity”
Reading Ekweremadu’s Statement in Context
At a dinner held in his honour in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Ike Ekweremadu distanced himself from statements making the rounds that he called for a military coup in the country, maintaining that his comments on the floor of the senate were misconstrued and insisting that he will never make derogatory statements against the Nigerian military.
“Before I close, let me just tell you one unfortunate incident that happened last week. We had one of our colleagues from Kogi who was hosting a constituency briefing and empowerment programme. He alleged that the government sponsored thugs to come and chase away people and disrupt the programme and destroy equipment he bought for his people.
“We condemned such acts, especially where in a particular case, the property of a parliamentarian was destroyed. We condemned a case whereby parliamentarians were stopped from holding meetings and where a parliamentarian was stopped from coming to a state where he was governor for eight years.
“We warned that it was this kind of reckless abuse of power and impunity that scuttled our democracy earlier, especially in the first republic and I cautioned that politicians should not take things for granted. Of course, some people took it out of context and said I was calling for a military coup. I never called for a military coup. I never said the military was planning any coup.”
Organized Labour’s threat
The organized labour has warned against insinuations of military takeover of democratically elected government, saying that irrespective of the several challenges the country was going through, it will resist any illegal and undemocratic takeover of government.
Organised labour, through the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, cautioned individuals secretly making such moves to desist from throwing Nigeria into anarchy. Their statement reads:
“It is common knowledge that since the military toppled the democratically elected government of Sir Tafawa Balewa in 1966, suspended the 1963 Federal Constitution and imposed a unitary system of government, the country’s growth has been stunted.
“We are also aware that all democracies in the world including that of the United States of America, Canada, Europe, etc., are not perfect but are still evolving and being improved upon.
“The shortcomings being experienced in building democratic institutions in Nigeria were not peculiar and that with time, some of the flaws would be rectified.
“Thus, under no circumstances should individuals, no matter how highly placed, should begin to hint of military takeover of government in Nigeria.
“This is because most of the social dislocations we experience today, such as corruption, deterioration of power supply, collapse of railway, basterdization of the education system, destruction of the Civil Service, etc., were exacerbated by military dictators.”
