Buhari Protecting His Regime, Not Nigerians, To Avoid Repeat Of 1985 – Odinkalu

A former National Human Rights Commission Chairman, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sack the incompetent Service Chiefs shows that he cares about his regime from being toppled like in 1985, as against caring about Nigerians’ security.

Odinkalu, a human rights activist, noted that the President had indicated that his government was not serious about tackling the worsening insecurity in the country.

He stated these on Thursday when he appeared on an African Independent Television programme, monitored by SaharaReporters.

The human rights activist says it is unfortunate that the president is busy outsourcing rather than take full responsibility for security issues.

He added that the constitution of the country is very clear on the primary responsibility of the president, which is the safety and security of the country and the people who live in it.

He said, “But what has he done? He’s outsourcing, he outsources. By the way, he is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.”

“The reason the president is comfortable with service chiefs who have expired long ago is that his priority is not national security; it is personal and regime security. That is my view.

“He outsources to governors, traditional rulers, citizens whether the ones killed in Zabarmari or Lekki or the traders whose carports were wiped out under his watch in Abuja, wherein all of these, is the responsibility of the president?”

Odinkalu stated that the country had retained the same architecture of security governance, the same service chiefs, hence the reason for lack of improvement.

“The president has been on record saying that the reason he cannot sack the service chiefs is that, he knows them and they know him, and he cannot trust any new people he brings. So, he is saying that even his experience with the coup in 1985, he is not about protecting you nor your family; it is protecting his eye and making sure his regime does not experience anything like 1985. He does not realize that the easiest way to do that is by being up-speed on his job.”