Amidst controversies on the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, a pressure group under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Good Governance, CCSOGG, on Saturday, May 6, 2017 described the demands for his resignation as misplaced saying that Nigeria is not affected by the president’s illness.
According to CCSOGG, “no organ of state is currently suffering directly or indirectly as a result of Buhari’s health situation.”
The group in a communique issued in Jos, the Plateau State capital, after its two-day consultative general assembly held in Abuja, added that “able appointees of the President have successfully been running the various offices.”
The communique which was signed by secretary of the coalition, Joyce Adamu and its chairperson, Communique Drafting Committee, Steven Onwu, and e-mailed to The Trent, claimed that some prominent Nigerians are currently plotting ‘civilian coup’ against President Buhari.
The group stressed that since the President has not said he is unfit to lead, nobody should force him out of power.
Among representatives of 40 CSOs included the New Initiative for Credible Leadership; Advocates of Social Justice for All; Lawyers of Mercy; Media Without Borders; and Beyond Leadership Legacy Foundation.
They described the calls for Buhari’s resignation as distraction to the current government.
The communique reads: “In the past days, several notable persons have breached decorum to make demands that have no anchor in the Nigerian constitution (as amended) like asking the President to take a medical leave.
“These calls are equivalent of civilian coup attempts since they are aimed at forcing President Buhari out of office over ill health that can befall anyone. The people making the demands based such on hearsay and rumors published as exclusive stories by less than credible online sites.
“In the same space of time that wicked rumors are flying around, wife of the president Mrs. Aisha Buhari declared that the severity of her husband’s health was being blown out of proportion.
“The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele briefed the president on the apex bank’s currency management and relayed how the forex stability excited President Buhari.
“Such brief could only have been presented to a lucid and healthy person. There is also no iota of constitutional crisis so far created by the ill health of the president as being propounded by some critics.”
While calling on the citizens of Nigeria to continue to pray for Buhari for quick recovery, the groups warned some them against spreading false story on the health of the president.
“We urge Nigerians to pray so that God will grant the president quick recovery and the country healing from the wounds inflicted by saboteurs. We also want to caution those spreading falsehood to desist from such especially in view of the negative consequences their action can have on citizens’ morale nationwide.
“Reactions based on this falsehood, like pressuring the president to proceed on medical leave, must be discontinued. Nigerians should only respond based on facts as conjectures would only complicate things for the country,” the organisation said.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy group, Concerned Nigerians, has issued a 2-weeks ultimatum to ailing President Muhammadu Buhari saying that he must address Nigerians on the state of his health by May 29, 2017.
In an e-mailed statement to The Trent on Saturday, May 6, 2017, Deji Adeyanju, the group’s convener and John Danfulani, the group’s secretary, threatened to “shut down Nigeria” if President Buhari did not conduct a nationally televised media chat in two weeks.
