Nothing good can come out of military rule, says Adewole Adebayo on coup rumour

Adewole Adebayo, former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), says there are no benefits from a return to military rule.

Adebayo spoke on Thursday during an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a Channels Television programme.

He was reacting to reports of an alleged coup attempt that recently stirred political tension in Nigeria.

The former presidential candidate said both the military and civilian authorities owe Nigerians an explanation about the reported incident, adding that accountability is key to maintaining public trust.

“Democracy is fragile whether you have extreme thwarting of it by elements of military juntas or they don’t want free and fair elections and then clamp down on citizens,” he said.

“Everywhere in the world, democracy is fragile, and it is to be protected. The best insurance against the disturbance, destruction, military coup, and bringing down of law and order is good governance.

“There is a lesson to learn from this while we are waiting for the military and civilian authorities in government to come out with a clear accountability of what happened.

“But what I know for sure is that all of us have a duty to know that we need to sustain this civilian system.”

Adebayo also warned political leaders that no one is insulated from instability.

“The fact that you are in government doesn’t mean that you are safe from being upset. Just the way there’s insecurity of life and property for Nigerians, there may soon be insecurity of tenure for the political class,” he said.

“The lesson to learn from that is that we will now be a little more sensitive to the will of the people; we will be more responsive to the needs of the people and take care of the people to be contented.

“But I can tell you, having lived under the military, I was born under Gowon’s administration, and I have gone through the military in my adult life.

“I was a major activist against the military. I can tell you nothing good can come out of the military; it is not an option for us.”

Last Friday, President Bola Tinubu approved a major shake-up in the nation’s military leadership, a move many Nigerians believe was linked to the alleged coup plot.

Waidi Shaibu, a major-general, replaced Olufemi Oluyede, a lieutenant general, who was elevated to the chief of defence staff (CDS) position.

On Sunday Aneke, an air vice-marshal, became air chief, while Idi Abbas, a rear admiral, is the new naval chief.