With the 2019 elections less than a year away, there is a scramble by all parties and stakeholders to position themselves favourably ahead of the polls.
The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari has the advantage as he is the one currently in power, but in the last election, a sitting President was removed, a fate which may very well befall Buhari if the plans of ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo and some ex-Generals come to fruition.
According to the Nation, plans have been stepped up by Obasanjo to depose Buhari next year and the ex-Generals also have their axe to grind with the President.
Some of the Generals mentioned in the Nation’s report include Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma, former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam Abubakar, General Zamani Lekwot and General Joshua Dongoyaro, among others.
It has been revealed that Obasanjo’s incendiary letter to Buhari earlier in the year asking him to forget the 2019 elections was a well-executed plan with the sole aim of rallying the sceptical ex-Generals together to band and fight Buhari.
The Ex-Generals have allegedly been meeting secretly to plot Buhari’s downfall and they plan to unleash those plans in the nearest future and highlight Buhari’s failure.
According to the Nation, a source of theirs said; “The first thing is to attempt to badmouth the Buhari’s administration by showing where it is not doing so well.
“The thinking is that once Nigerians begin to think less of the administration and its weaknesses are promoted, they will become disenchanted and look for alternatives.
“That is why Obasanjo has been relentless in telling everyone that Buhari has failed. It is a line he will keep repeating for the remaining months to the election. The strategy clearly is to say this man has failed to meet your expectations so look for someone else to fix the nation.”
The coalition against Buhari has already gotten to work, Obasanjo’s letter was the gateway as the letter carefully hit on the Buhari’s greatest which were also failures that really affected Nigerians, including the economic recession and the security challenges in the North and other parts of Nigeria.
Even the outburst by Danjuma about Nigerians needing to defend themselves was apparently part of the plan to discredit Buhari even further.
According to the Nation, the coalition also plans to work with pressure groups, civil society organisations and human rights bodies to highlight further the failings of Buhari.
The Nation also reports that Buhari is aware of these plots and also has a scheme of his own in the works. Speaking to the Nation, an aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “These things are there to see. We know what they are up to. It is all because their economic interests have been badly affected by this administration.
“It’s a fight-back ploy to defend their interests that negatively affect the nation. We shall be waiting for them to throw whatever they have at it.
“At the end of the day, Nigerians are no fools. They know this President has their best interests at heart. All their plotting will come to naught because they are plotting against an ex-general also.”