The All Progressives Congress Campaign Organisation (APCPCO), has said that President Goodluck Jonathan, by his own admission, has ceased to play his role as the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian armed forces, on account of which he needs to urgently clarify his position under the constitution.
In a statement signed by the campaign’s director for media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the APCCO said that Jonathan’s loss of control was quite evident in the media chat which the president hosted on Wednesday, February 11.
“President Jonathan claims that he had no idea about the plans to postpone the elections,” Malam Shehu said. “Who then gave the command to the service chiefs to write the letter to Jega considering that the NSA’s line of reporting is directly and exclusively to the President? Did they write it without clearance from the commander in chief?”
The statement further noted that the service chiefs, at the prompting of the National Security Adviser, made presentations to the Council of State.
“Who authorised them to make that presentation since the President claimed that he was not informed about the shift in the polls date, nay by extension the security issue that was raised by the security chiefs for the postponement of the polls?” Shehu asked.
“Is the President telling the nation that the top brass of the military can act without his consent? If that is the case, what then is his constitutional responsibility as commander in chief?”
The APCCO noted that the situation is troubling for Nigeria and for our country’s democracy, where service chiefs could supposedly act independently of their commander-in-chief.
Shehu added: “Were the president’s appointees acting independently of him or did he give the go ahead to them? What authority does the NSA have to write directly to the INEC Chairman considering that his line of reporting is to the President who appointed him?”
The statement concluded with the suggestion that President Jonathan needed to take whatever action necessary to rectify this anarchy.
“Either that or he needs to be more honest with Nigerians about his actual role in the election postponement.”
