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| Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief Alex Badeh |
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has condemned in strong terms the
political campaign advertorial on several media outlets by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) that seemed to question the integrity and
sincerity of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief Alex Badeh, in the
ongoing counter-terrorism operations against Boko Haram terrorists in
the North-east.
The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a
statement released on Wednesday, said the advert, which cited that
Badeh could not meet the deadline he gave to defeat Boko Haram and
later a ceasefire with the sect, was unfair to the office of the CDS and
the military. The statement reads:
“The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) views with strong exception the
political campaign advert by a political party which is currently airing
on several television channels targeting the person and office of Chief
of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh for denigration.
In the said advert, vile references were made about the Chief’s
leadership of the ongoing counter terrorism operation in some parts of
the country. The advert is simply typical of the now very common use of
the print, electronic and social media to propagate the campaign of
attacking or ridiculing the Nigerian Armed Forces all with the intention
of scoring political points.
The issues raised in the so-called political advert have already been
clarified a couple of times by the DHQ and efforts are currently being
channeled towards effective prosecution of the fight against terror with
a view to reversing the situation in the areas the terrorists are
showing presence.
It is therefore unfortunate that a lot of fabrications, exaggeration,
misrepresentation of facts and outright falsehood are bring disseminated
to achieve this unjust objective of tarnishing the reputation of the
leadership and individual officers of the nation’s military, all with
the aim of getting at the government of the day.
It is rather disappointing that some politicians are yet to understand
the need to separate sensitive national security issues from their
zealous political activities. It is, to say the least, very unbecoming
of any political party to drag the name and office of a serving Chief of
Defence Staff into their political campaigns.
This tendency is divisive and aimed at the morale and cohesion in the
nation’s Armed Forces. Those who are so desperate to drag the military
into political campaigns should realise that no political party or
politician should hope to benefit from any effort to destroy the fabric
of the nation’s military.
The Chief of Defence Staff and by extension the entire personnel of
Nigerian military do not belong to or work for any political party
rather they work for the overall interest of the nation. The DHQ
therefore urge politicians to always know when and where to draw the
lines and keep the military out of their political machinations.”
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