Obasanjo warns against plot to hand over to military

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday warned against handing over the reins of government to the military.

Obasanjo said the speculation that the government was planning an Interim Government had been substituted by speculations that President Goodluck Jonathan was plotting to hand over to the military. He said that doing so would undermine the integrity of the country.

The ex-President, while hosting Aisha Buhari, wife of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, said, “I do hope we will get things more right. A lot of rumours are flying around; I think we have gone away from the rumour of Interim Government because that is not in our constitution.

“I hope we will soon go away from the rumour of handing over to the military because the military is not meant to run the affairs of a nation in terms of running government.”

Obasanjo, who said that he was happy that the country had gone beyond the Interim Government rumour, added that he hoped the nation would also survive the rumour of handing over to the military.

He said, “The international community will not condone it, particularly the African Union where we have a situation, we have said and it is part and parcel of the constituting Act of the African Union. Any government that is brought about not on the basis of the constitution will not be accepted; will not be tolerated and will not be a member of the AU until that government is dismantled.

“It shouldn’t be. We are the largest country in Africa; we should be a model, setting examples, we shouldn’t be drawing Africa backwards. I hope we will not. I hope at the end of this exercise, we would be where we should be, leading Africa and showing examples for the rest of Africa and indeed the rest of the world…