Group tackles Northern elite over alarm on Foreign Military Base

A coalition of anti-corruption, civil society and human rights groups, Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER) has blamed a group of Northern elite for raising the alarm of plan by the Federal Government to allow the siting of a Military base in the country, saying they are trying to cause disaffection in the country. […]

A coalition of anti-corruption, civil society and human rights groups, Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER) has blamed a group of Northern elite for raising the alarm of plan by the Federal Government to allow the siting of a Military base in the country, saying they are trying to cause disaffection in the country.

COTER’s President, Dr Peter China Chukwu and General Secretary, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko, in a statement in Abuja, said the Northern elites have only cried wolf where none exists with a view to heightening the tempo of domestic opposition against the present administration.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had on Monday clarified that the Federal Government was not considering request from any country to establish a military base in Nigeria.

But according to COTER there is no iota of truth in the alarm raised by the Northern elites in their letter to President Tinubu and the National Assembly, arguing that such an alarm was capable of causing panic amongst the citizenry with the people in some of the already volatile regions taking to the streets in protest.

COTER stated that the President Tinubu-led administration knew more than enough about the primary objectives of Nigeria’s foreign and defence policies to accede to any request by any foreign power to site a military base in Nigeria.

It added that Nigeria’s membership of the Non-aligned Movement and the BRICS countries precluded the country from offering its territory to any foreign power to establish a military base.

COTER said, “The false alarm raised by some Northern leaders over alleged plans by the Federal Government to accede to the request by the United States of America and France to relocate their military bases in Burkina Faso and Niger Republic to Nigeria, raises some concerns about the intention of these letter writers.

“It is clear that their intention is to cause disaffection between the Federal Government and citizens of Nigeria.

“Nigeria’s stance and policy on this matter is very clear and unambiguous. It’s the country’s foreign and defence policies not to enter into any military pact with any foreign power. Previous governments and the current administration of President Bola Tinubu have abided and operated by these policies, even since the early 1960s.”