By Musa Odoshimokhe
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has criticised the National Assembly over its proposed Armed Forces Bill.
It said it was plot to truncate the nation’s democracy.
According to the group, the bill sponsored by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is targeted at destroying the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, NDF Secretary-General, Dr. Abdulkadir Bolaji said the move was unconstitutional as it would whittle the powers of the President the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
He added that the bill should not be considered, especially as it is being championed by a staunch an advocate of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Nnamdi Kanu’s sympathizer.
NDF urged Nigerians to rise in unity to condemn this attempt at destroying a critical national institution like the Armed Forces.
Read Also: Constitution amendment: How far can National Assembly go?
It called on the National Assembly leadership to ignore sentiments in this critical time and uphold the country’s democracy and peace .
“The bill seeking to establish the Armed Forces Service Commission is, at best, the handiwork of political merchants, warmongers, and separationist advocates. As such, the National Democratic Front wishes to put in in precise terms that this is nothing but an attempt to destroy our revered Armed Forces.
“The National Democratic Front as an organization with expertise in documenting the democratic experiences in advanced and emerging democracies wishes to state that in the most advanced democracies in the world, there is no such arrangement in place that would take the powers out of the hand of the president as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
“It is the inalienable constitutional rights of the President to oversee the affairs of the Armed Forces in the country, and this bill can thus be regarded as a coup against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We are appalled that the leadership of the Senate would allow such travesty to be discussed on the floor of the red chambers without taking the time to look at the antecedent of the sponsor of the bill, who is a known separationist advocate.
“The sponsorship of this despicable bill is indeed an avenue for the likes of Senator Eyinaya Abaribe to carryout out from where his protégée Nnamdi Kanu stopped in their quest to disintegrate Nigeria.
“We are also aware that seated in the hallowed chambers are other advocates of those that are hell-bent on destroying our revered Armed Forces so they can actualize their destabilization and disintegration plot against our dear country.
“This fact is corroborated in that such a bill that seeks to promote the interest of a certain few have been slated for a second reading on the floor of the Senate. This is indeed despicable and might be an indication that the leadership of the Nigerian Senate might have been compromised in ways too numerous to mention.
“We also wish to put it on record that, indeed, Senator Eyinaya Abaribe is nursing a grudge against the Nigerian Military for quelling the IPPOB uprising and as such one of the way to retaliate is to seek for the destruction of the Armed Forces through the Armed Forces Service Commission,” he said.
Leave a Reply