Senior Special Assistant to President Buari on Media and Publicity,
Shehu Garba, has reacted to the criticism that has trailed the service
chiefs who attended the campaign kickoff of President Buhari on Sunday
November 18th at the presidential villa. Service chiefs present at the
event were Gabriel Olonisakin, chief of defence staff, Abubakar Sadiq,
chief of air staff, and Ibok-Ete Ibas, chief of naval staff. The
spokesperson of the Atiku Campaign Organization, Segun Sowunmi, in an
interview with Punch, said the presence of the service chiefs showed
that Buhari as the commander-in-chief had compromised the heads of the
military agencies.“The problem with the security agencies is that they
have not fully defined who they should be loyal to. The concern is that
the commander-in-chief has some sort of relationship with them but when
they elevate that relationship to a point where they begin to attend
political events at the launch of the campaign of a political party,
everybody must be scared. This is because it portends a very dangerous
development which is that they have now got themselves involved in
politics to the point that they are now the cheerleaders of another
political party.“I hope when we want to unveil our own political
document in a public forum and if we invite them, they would be
reasonable enough to attend since they now attend political events. We
want to advise them to be removed from politics so that the opposition
can feel safe. I am quite disappointed in President Buhari for exposing
the military to such a compromise and we call on the international
community to take note” he saidReacting to Sowunmi's comment, Garba
Shehu in a statement released, said the service chiefs had thought the
event was non-political and left even before President Buhari arrived
the venue for the declaration. The statement read“They were mistaken in
their assumption that this was a non-political event, to showcase the
achievements of the administration, the success of which they are part.
Hardly were they seated than did the Minister of Defence, retired
Brig-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali ask them to leave as this was a political
gathering. They quickly left, even before the arrival of the President
and for the event to get underway. The fuss over this is therefore
absolutely unnecessary.” The post Presidency reacts as Atiku condemns Service chiefs attending President Buhari's campaign kickoff.Presidency reacts as Atiku condemns Service chiefs attending President Buhari's campaign kickoff
Senior Special Assistant to President Buari on Media and Publicity,
Shehu Garba, has reacted to the criticism that has trailed the service
chiefs who attended the campaign kickoff of President Buhari on Sunday
November 18th at the presidential villa. Service chiefs present at the
event were Gabriel Olonisakin, chief of defence staff, Abubakar Sadiq,
chief of air staff, and Ibok-Ete Ibas, chief of naval staff. The
spokesperson of the Atiku Campaign Organization, Segun Sowunmi, in an
interview with Punch, said the presence of the service chiefs showed
that Buhari as the commander-in-chief had compromised the heads of the
military agencies.“The problem with the security agencies is that they
have not fully defined who they should be loyal to. The concern is that
the commander-in-chief has some sort of relationship with them but when
they elevate that relationship to a point where they begin to attend
political events at the launch of the campaign of a political party,
everybody must be scared. This is because it portends a very dangerous
development which is that they have now got themselves involved in
politics to the point that they are now the cheerleaders of another
political party.“I hope when we want to unveil our own political
document in a public forum and if we invite them, they would be
reasonable enough to attend since they now attend political events. We
want to advise them to be removed from politics so that the opposition
can feel safe. I am quite disappointed in President Buhari for exposing
the military to such a compromise and we call on the international
community to take note” he saidReacting to Sowunmi's comment, Garba
Shehu in a statement released, said the service chiefs had thought the
event was non-political and left even before President Buhari arrived
the venue for the declaration. The statement read“They were mistaken in
their assumption that this was a non-political event, to showcase the
achievements of the administration, the success of which they are part.
Hardly were they seated than did the Minister of Defence, retired
Brig-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali ask them to leave as this was a political
gathering. They quickly left, even before the arrival of the President
and for the event to get underway. The fuss over this is therefore
absolutely unnecessary.” The post Presidency reacts as Atiku condemns Service chiefs attending President Buhari's campaign kickoff.
