Presidency

ABUJA– The presidency has said it had uncovered a plot by some disruptive elements to forcefully unseat President Muhammadu Buhari and throw Nigeria into turmoil.

Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a statement issued on Tuesday said the aim of the disruptive elements is to create a situation whereby a vote of no confidence would be passed on President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed on the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil,” the statement partly read.

“The caterwauling, in recent times, by these elements, is to prepare the grounds adequately for their ignoble intentions, which are designed to cause further grief for the country.

“The agent provocateurs hope to achieve through artifice and sleight of hands, what they failed to do through the ballot box in the 2019 elections.”

He recalled that the Department of State Services (DSS), on Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.

The warning comes two days after the Department of State Services says it will begin a clampdown on agents of anarchy in various parts of the country.

DSS in a statement on Sunday by its spokesman, Peter Afunanya, faulted those said to be creating instability through comments that threaten the sovereignty and corporate existence of the nation.

It also condemned what it called the unnecessary criticism and activities of some religious and past political leaders who have either called for a forceful change of government or mass action against it.

The DSS described as unfortunate, a situation where those who should be patriotic were allowing their personal ambitions to ruin the nation.

Nigerians have opted for democratic rule, and the only accepted way to change a democratically elected government is through elections, which hold at prescribed times in the country. Any other way is patently illegal, and even treasonable. Of course, such would attract the necessary consequences.

See the full statement issued by the Presidency below:

OUR RESPONSE TO DSS ALERT, BY PRESIDENCY

The Department of State Services (DSS), on Sunday alerted on sinister moves by misguided elements to wreak havoc on the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of the country.

Championed by some disgruntled religious and past political leaders, the intention is to eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.

Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed on the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil.

The caterwauling, in recent times, by these elements, is to prepare the grounds adequately for their ignoble intentions, which are designed to cause further grief for the country.

The agent provocateurs hope to achieve through artifice and sleight of hands, what they failed to do through the ballot box in the 2019 elections.

Nigerians have opted for democratic rule, and the only accepted way to change a democratically elected government is through elections, which hold at prescribed times in the country. Any other way is patently illegal, and even treasonable. Of course, such would attract the necessary consequences.

These discredited individuals and groups are also in cahoots with external forces to cause maximum damage in their own country. But the Presidency, already vested with mandate and authority by Nigerians till 2023, pledges to keep the country together, even if some unruly feathers would be ruffled in the process.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

May 4, 2021