The Presidency has alleged plots by ”disgruntled religious and past political leaders” to “throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.”
This was disclosed in a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday.
Adesina did not name any of the alleged planners but said the statement was in support of an earlier, similar one by the State Security Service (SSS, also called DSS).
Buhari has come under criticism by many Nigerians including some of his erstwhile backers over the worsening security situation in the country.
Adesina and the SSS believe that beyond the criticisms, there are also plans to scuttle the Buhari administration.
“These discredited individuals and groups are also in cahoots with external forces to cause maximum damage in their own country,” the spokesperson said.
The statement reads: “The Department of State Services (DSS), on had Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.
“Championed by some disgruntled religious and past political leaders, the intention is to eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.
“Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed on the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil.
“The caterwauling, in recent times, by these elements, is to prepare the grounds adequately for their ignoble intentions, which are designed to cause further grief for the country.
“The agent provocateurs hope to achieve through artifice and sleight of hands, what they failed to do through the ballot box in the 2019 elections.
“Nigerians have opted for democratic rule, and the only accepted way to change a democratically elected government is through elections, which hold at prescribed times in the country. Any other way is patently illegal, and even treasonable. Of course, such would attract the necessary consequences.
“These discredited individuals and groups are also in cahoots with external forces to cause maximum damage in their own country. But the Presidency, already vested with mandate and authority by Nigerians till 2023, pledges to keep the country together, even if some unruly feathers would be ruffled in the process.”
