The military, yesterday, explained why it suggested that the election dates be shifted, clarifying that its advice had no political undertone.
According to the military, the reason for its suggestion for a shift was to enable it take delivery of the long awaited weapons with which to tackle terrorists in the North eastern part of the country.
“I do not want to bring politics into it, whoever wants to bring politics into what we are doing, it’s left for him. I want whoever is saying that to know that war machines are not picked up from the shelf, if it were, we would have got them,” Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said while receiving drugs and other items worth over N70 million donated by the Association of Pharmaceutical Importers of Nigeria (APIN), to assist the Nigerian Armed Forces in the war against Boko Haram insurgency.
“When you make orders, it takes time to produce and it takes time also to train on them. So, we did not place the orders today, we had placed orders before now and when they started coming, we asked for more time to combat the insurgents before the elections. I can guarantee you that there is no politics in the demand for shift in date, it is just because we were receiving the equipment.”
Badeh urged Nigerians to support the military, as this would ensure victory against the sect.
“Part of the overall strategy of tackling insecurity is to build synergy with the civil populace, especially for support and vigilance in reporting the activities of suspicious elements and the movements of insurgents.
“This is borne out of our strong conviction that the war against insurgents is not a war for the armed forces alone. As I have always said, when the military is at war, it is not the military alone that is at war, rather it is the entire nation.
“Accordingly, all instrument of national power, ranging from diplomatic, informational, military to economic are employed to ensure that threats to national security are contained and defeated.”
The CDS commended APIN and other companies who earlier made similar donations to the military. He said such gesture was a clear demonstration of concern and support for the military in the ongoing war against terrorists, despite antics of some unpatriotic persons.
