PDP Condemns Buhari’s Attempt to Drag Military Chiefs into Politics

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the alleged attempts by President Muhammadu Buhari to politicise and compromise the military by dragging in Service Chiefs to attend and participate in his re-election campaign rally.

The PDP said such participation in partisan politics is a dangerous dimension as it would not only erode the confidence which the citizens repose on the military ahead of the election, but is also a recipe for discord and partisan disagreements within the rank and file of the military.

This, according to the main opposition party, could also result in mutual suspicion in the force and whittle its effectiveness in defending the country.

The PDP in a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, described the participation of the Service Chiefs in Buhari’s campaign rally tagged: ‘Next Level’ as completely unacceptable and objectionable.

He noted that it sends a very wrong signal to the public regarding the expected professionalism, neutrality and detachment of the institution of the military from partisan politics and cannot be justified under any guise.

Ologbondiyan noted that Buhari’s desperation to rig and foist himself on the country in the 2019 elections, would stop at nothing in his attempt to compromise and desecrate the country’s institutions, but said doing so on the military is a clear invitation to crisis and derailment of Nigerian democracy.

The PDP insisted that “the state and particularly its apparatus of power must be separated from partisan politics, and we caution President Buhari not to further divide the country and set the people on collision course with security forces, as such will spell doom for our country.

“The PDP urges the military high command to be wary of the antics of the Buhari presidency, which is now known to be bent at compromising the armed forces ahead of the elections, and take decisive steps towards insulating its personnel and formations from political manipulation of the Buhari presidency.”