Deji Adeyanju, an aide of Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, has been quoted as having said the government will prefer a military coup than handing over to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Adeyanju reportedly made the statement in a Blackberry Messenger message.
The statement was further posted on Facebook, a bromide of which is used to illustrate this news report.
The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation in a statement on Saturday by its spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, took up Adeyanju on the issue.
In the statement, the APC Presidential Campaign Organization asked the general public to ponder on a statement posted on Facebook by an official of the Presidency saying their government will rather hand over power to the military than to Buhari in the event that the APC candidate wins the election.
The Blackberry Messenger statement by Adeyanju said: “Buhari can never be President of Nigeria. Quote me any day any time. Instead of Buhari to become President of Nigeria, Nigeria would rather break. A military coup will even be allowed than for Buhari to become the president of a democratic Nigeria quote me any day, any time.”
Shehu said in the statement: “Unless it is convincingly rebutted, the statement above, by the ruling party appears to clearly be uninterested in free, fair and conclusive elections, but rather to engender crisis and chaos if it happens that the APC candidate, General Buhari wins the elections.
“This revelation in a public statement via the BBM would appear to support the PDP’s avowed determination to rule for 60 years, a boast echoed repeatedly by some former national chairmen of the party. The boast however did not reckon with the emergence of the All Progressives Congress and the determination with which the party mobilized and stuck together to confront the PDP that over time had prided itself with invisibility.
“We of the APC hereby call on all Nigerians to be vigilant and ensure that no one is allowed to truncate the 2015 elections. It is also important that all Nigerians allow peace to reign and insist on free and fair polls to assist the process of peaceful and democratic transition.
“Similarly, our party, the APC is confident that the men and women of our patriotic Armed Forces and the Police, including other security agencies would discharge their obligations without fear or favour and ensure that the 2015 polls is not only free and fair but also credible leading to the installation of a popular-elected government that will improve the well-being of Nigerians.”