Army Chief Speaks On ‘Military Plot’ To Overthrow Tinubu Govt

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has dismissed reports of a plot by the military to overthrow the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, expressing the commitment of the Nigerian military to defend the country’s democracy.

Speaking on Tuesday at a seminar on career planning and management organised by the Army headquarters in Abuja, Lagbaja said the military has come to terms with the country’s choice of democracy as the preferred system of governance.

He said: “Permit me to seize this opportunity to reiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, particularly the Nigerian Army, has come to terms with the country’s choice of democracy as the preferred system of governance.

“We are, therefore, agents of democracy and have no desire to truncate it. The Nigerian Army will continue to defend our constitution and not suspend it for whatever reason.

“It is the duty of our elected leaders to lead while the military does its job as enshrined in our constitution. Nigerian Army personnel must, therefore, remain professional and be above board as they discharge their constitutional duties.”

Recall that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, had last month, shortly after he inaugurated the main entrance of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army and Officers Transit Accommodation, at the Division Headquarters in Port Harcourt, maintained that the Nigerian military would continue to defend and protect democracy in the country.