Sacking Service Chiefs Now Is Selfish, Atiku’s Aide, Olarewaju Tells Tinubu
•By Admin
IBADAN – Demola Olarewaju, a Senior Political Aide to former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for sacking the Nation’s Service Chiefs following recent report of attempted coup, saying it was selfish when he had failed to sack them, ignored Nigerians’ calls when bandits were attacking and killing Nigerians in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Many people had at several times agitated for replacement of the Service Chiefs on ground of their incompetence to curb killings of Nigerians by Boko Haram insurgents and bandits, but the president ignored the calls, only to act now when the security of his position was threatened. Olarewaju then tongue-lashed the Federal Government for failing to direct any of its Aides to address the Nation by confirming or honestly debunking the coup attempt report.
Speaking on “Frontline” programme of the Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, monitored by New Telegraph on Tuesday, Olarewaju said, “Unequivocally, no one wants a coup in Nigeria. But this government is not being sincere with Nigerians. Was there a Military coup in the first place? None of the many Aides of the government has been able to come out to tell us categorically that there was a coup attempt or there was no coup attempt. Sahara Reporters that was discredited by this government was the first to report that there was an attempted coup. Up till today, the Minister of Information; SA Digital Media, Special Adviser (Media) and all, have not been able to tell Nigerians whether there was a coup attempt or not. They should come clean and tell us something about this matter.
“If it is true that President Bola Tinubu replaced the Service Chiefs because there was a military coup attempt, then he must be a very selfish president. This is because many Nigerians have been clamouring that he should replace these guys because of the rate of insecurity going on in the North. Many places are being affected in Zamfara, Yobe, Bauchi etc. Bandits were attacking and killing people. If the Service Chiefs are not competent, replace them, but Bola Tinubu did not. Now, there is a threat of military coup and he now changed the Service Chiefs. That means he is not thinking about Nigerians but just the security of his position. Let someone in the government come out and tell us if there was a coup attempt or not. They denied it before, but why the sudden sack of the Service Chiefs?”, he asked.
On the reality of intention of the coalition called ADC, ahead 2027, the Aide confirmed that the Patriots in the new party have been meeting and strategizing since last year and they know their onions as a force that can stop the alleged misgovernance of the present APC government.
While mentioning that David Mark (ex-Senate President) remains the Head of the coalition with Nasir El Rufai, Rauf Aregbesola (former governors of Kaduna and Osun states), and others as strong members, Olarewaju however declared that his Principal, Atiku Abubakar, and the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, are committed supporters of the coalition, but have not officially declared their membership till date for strategic reasons.
His words, “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has not yet declared himself as a member of the ADC, but he has shown his support strategically. He has ambition to contest the 2027 presidency under the ADC, but if another candidate emerges eventually, he has said that he will support the person. Peter Obi has also not moved into ADC but both of them have made it clear that they are ADC supporters and they are within the coalition.
“They have not joined formally, but I can tell you that they have been meeting and discussing long before now. These patriots have been having discussions since over a year ago and working together. So, I am saying on behalf of my Principal that I am impressed, I am happy and inspired as a person of somebody in my 40s, and that at his age (78), he still has the energy to deploy for a coalition and work for the good of Nigeria. This is one thing that should inspire younger ones to believe that we can get things done. They are members of the coalition and soon, they will announce their membership. But for now, their position is very strategic.
“This coalition is not about one person. It is about the country, and Mr. Peter Obi had initially made that known. We believe in Alhaji Abubakar’s candidacy and victory. But he has said that he will support whoever is the winner of that coalition. And if he wins, he will also expect others to support him. If Peter Obi wins the candidacy of ADC, it will still be a win for Atiku Abubakar because in 2003, it was Atiku Abubakar that chose Peter Obi as his Vice”.
Asked why the ADC will want to support Atiku Abubakar ‘s candidacy with presidency going back to the North when other parties are zoning theirs to the South, Olarewaju said, “The issue is beyond North and South now. The person in power is from the South but he is not making life better for us. People say that Atiku Abubakar also promised in his campaign manifesto that he would remove fuel subsidy. Yes. But Bola Tinubu should go back and read Atiku’s manifesto.
“The issue in contention is not merely about removal of subsidy but deregulation of the downstream sector. There are some set of reforms to be carried out within the downstream sector that will bring relief for Nigerians. You don’t just wake up and say subsidy is gone for ever. You remove subsidy and the person that is importing fuel is still NNPC. Aliko Dangote is refining petroleum now at Ibeji Lekki. That is why petroleum is still at N1,000. If not, a litre of petroleum would have been over N2,000 because you did not deregulate the downstream sector as Atiku Abubakar said in his manifesto.
“In advanced countries, different categories of users have different types of fuel they use. Why should somebody who is using “I better Pass My Neighbour” generator be using the same type of fuel that somebody who uses 2025 SUV is using? The prices should be different. Deregulate the downstream sector. We have four refineries in this country that are not working and there are people that are collecting salary from these refineries, yet the refineries have not produced one drop of fuel for Nigerians. This is a disservice to Nigerians.
“What Atiku said was “I will privatize the oil sector. I will deregulate the downstream sector. And I will use the NNPC as a regulator”. NNPC cannot be a competitor and still be a regulator at the same time. This is what Atiku Abubakar will do differently if he emerges”, Olarewaju stressed.