Femi Falana (SAN), yesterday urged the Nigerian government to arrest those planning to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and try them for treasonable felony before it’s too late.
Recall that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Nigerian Army, Lieutenant General TY Buratai, last week said he received information that some individuals were approaching some officers and soldiers for undisclosed political reasons.
Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, Director Army Public Relations, said on the basis of that, Buratai “has warned such persons to desist from these acts”.
Falana, however, warned that the matter must not be treated with levity because of the weighty consequences.
He spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the weekend in a paper titled “Politics, Leadership And Accountability: The Role Of The People” delivered at a colloquium on Kwara@50 organised by The Movement For Genuine Change.
Falana said: “The political class should stop playing into the hands of potential coup plotters. While the decision of the Army chief to alert the nation of the devilish plot is appreciated, the authorities should proceed to fish out the coup plotters and their civilian collaborators with a view to trying them for treasonable felony.
“Notwithstanding the glaring shortcomings of the fragile democratic process, the people should be allowed to take advantage of the democratic structures to take their political destiny in their own hands.”
On the economy, Falana called for the resuscitation of the Peoples’ Bank to give loans to indigent citizens who could not access loans in commercial banks.
“The Islamic Bank and others which are not going to charge interests should be established.
“In addition, the federal government should spend the fund recovered from corrupt public officers and their privies on job creation and fixing of hospitals and schools as well as the funding of other social services”, he said.
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