The Nigerian Government has raised an alarm over the plot by some disruptive elements to throw Nigeria into turmoil and bring about undemocratic change of government.
The Special Assistant to Nigerian Presidential on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja that the aim of the disruptive elements is to create a situation whereby a vote of no confidence would be passed on President Muhammadu Buhari.
“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 statement said.
“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,” local media reports on Wednesday quoted the statement by Adesina as saying.
Adesina recalled that the Department of State Services (DSS) had on Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.
The warning comes two days after the Department of State Services said that it would begin a clampdown on agents of anarchy in various parts of the country.
According to Adesina, the DSS condemned what it called the unnecessary criticism and activities of some religious and past political leaders, who have either called for a forceful change of government or mass action against it.
The DSS described as unfortunate, a situation where those who should be patriotic were allowing their personal ambitions to ruin the nation.
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.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has asked the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to hold state governments, including those headed by members of the party, accountable for the prosecution of banditry and kidnapping cases.
Reacting to criticisms by the opposition PDP that the ruling All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to protect Nigerians and their property, the Minister said on Tuesday in Abuja that banditry and kidnapping were not federal offenses.
He said that it was unfortunate that the opposition party had not recognised the efforts by the current administration on the matter, including the town hall meeting held in Kaduna where a 10-point action plan was drawn.
The Minister said that was the PDP was playing to the gallery and trying to play politics with issues of national security.
GIK/APA