Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has claimed that Nigeria’s former military ruler and president, Muhammadu Buhari, was originally due for retirement as a brigadier general before being promoted.
Speaking during an interview with Trust TV News, Ahmed said Buhari did not play a direct role in planning the military coup that brought him to power in December 1983. According to him, Buhari was elevated in rank after appeals were made on his behalf and because the administration of former President Shehu Shagari was lenient toward senior military officers, particularly those from Northern Nigeria.
Ahmed argued that Buhari’s rise to power was influenced more by political and military considerations than by any involvement in organising the coup. He maintained that the officers who planned the takeover preferred to present a leader from the North-West region rather than take power directly themselves.
The former senator also alleged that Buhari was unaware of the coup plans until shortly before the takeover and was subsequently chosen to serve as head of state. He further claimed that key decisions of the military government were largely driven by those around Buhari rather than by Buhari himself.
Ahmed’s remarks add to ongoing debates about the events surrounding the 1983 military coup and the role played by various military officers in the change of government that ended Nigeria’s Second Republic.
In his words, “He was meant to have been retired as Brigadier General when Mahmud Tukur pleaded, and then late President Shagari was too kind to the generals, especially the northerners, they promoted him to a general…..See More
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