President Muhammadu Buhari has boasted that the Nigerian military can no longer stage a coup in the country, as the coup menace continues to sweep through the West African sub-region.
Buhari, who first rode into power through a coup in 1983, made this submission on Monday at a dinner party in honour of the 2022 Committee of Business, Political, Media and Civil Society Leaders at the State House, Abuja.
While addressing the gathering, the convener of the group, Nduka Obaigbena, said the leaders of the country should do everything possible to avert the “ugly trend sweeping through West Africa”, noting that Nigeria was currently facing a ”historic transition like no other, and with crises across Africa and at home, the committee was formed to defend the national interest.”
”The 2022 Committee was put together to defend Nigeria in a time of crisis and in a time of transition, we must defend the national interest,’’ Obaigbena said.
While addressing the gathering, Buhari said: “One of the important points that the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government make is that coups and coups d’etat generally are completely unacceptable.
“I make bold to say a coup cannot happen again in Nigeria. We cannot continue to have a situation where they are tolerated for the simple reason that in Africa, West Africa in particular, we have gone way beyond military coups as an answer to the question of change in political actors.
“There is a very strong feeling amongst the heads of states that we must insist, other international bodies, the UN, EU, and other regional groups must support the imposition of sanctions on individuals and groups that choose not to follow the democratic process of change of government, but go by way of coup d‘etat.
“Our democracy is now at a stage where coups cannot be tolerated and our military are too sophisticated to go that route,” Buhari insisted.
