Buhari to Jonathan: No President has ever declared war on Nigeria as we are seeing now

Former Nigerian Head of State Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari has accused President
Goodluck Jonathan of deploying the
institutions of the state to wage war against
the country, especially the opposition.
In a statement issued in Kaduna on Sunday,
Gen. Buhari urged President Jonathan to pull
the brakes on his Administration’s runaway
train of impunity in the interest of Nigeria’s
survival and the sustenance of the nation’s
democracy.
He said the developments in the polity have
become an unwelcome distraction for the
nation’s ongoing survival battle against the
terror group Boko Haram, which has put
Nigeria on the tenterhooks, with innocent
citizens being daily mowed down at the times
and places of the group’s chosen and over
200 school girls spending their fourth month
in precarious captivity
”In my capacity as an elder statesman, rather
than a politician, I have spoken to President
Jonathan in private over these issues, but
indications are that the strategy has not
yielded positive fruits. I cannot, just because I
am an opposition politician, fail to do what is
expected of me as an elder statesman to help
rescue our nation in times of great trouble and
palpable uncertainty.
”History will not be kind to me if I sit back
while things turn bad, just so that no one will
accuse me of partisanship. Yes, I am a
politician. Yes, I am in the opposition. Yes,
there is the tendency for my statement to be
misconstrued as that of a politician rather
than a statesman. But I owe it as matter of
duty and honour, and in the interest of our
nation, to speak out on the dangerous
trajectory that our nation is heading.
”I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it
all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a
head of state, a man who has occupied many
other sensitive posts and a politician. I have
been a close participant and witness to
Nigeria’s political history.
”Our country has gone through several rough
patches, but never before have I seen a
Nigerian President declare war on his own
country as we are seeing now. Never before
have I seen a Nigerian President deploy
federal institutions in the service of
partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never
before have I seen a Nigerian President utilize
the common wealth to subvert the system and
punish the opposition, all in the name of
politics. Our nation has suffered serious
consequences in the past for egregious acts
that are not even close to what we are seeing
now. It is time to pull the brakes,” Gen. Buhari
warned.