Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has accused the Chief of Army Staff,
Lt. General Tukur Buratai and the military high command of plot to kill
him.
Frank in a statement in Abuja in reaction to an online message designed by
the military in which they accused him of being a “Protagonist of Fake
News” said the real plot by Buratai and the military is to eliminate him.
It is sad to note that the Army under Buratai has degenerated to this
abysmal level of partnership.The Army and Buratai have just shown to be
the peddlers of fake news themselves by putting out my name in such a
manner . This I must say portends a great danger to the country.
He stated that the military is not comfortable with him for constantly
revealing clandestine midnight meetings between Buratai, the Chairman of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and President
Muhammadu Buhari, where they plotted to rig the 2019 elections in favour
of the APC which they have now done.
Frank said: “Buratai is after my life for speaking truth to power. I want
Nigerians and the international community to hold Buratai and the military
responsible should any harm befall me in the years ahead as the army chief
has vowed to bring me down wherever he finds me. But God shall thwart the
counsel of the ungodly.
“I insist that Buratai and the Chairman of INEC have been holding
nocturnal meetings with President Buhari on how to achieve unearned
victory for the APC during the elections which they have now done.
“Let Buratai tell Nigerians if he ever had any midnight meeting with the
President and the INEC chair in the run up to the last two successive
elections instead of blackmailing and calling me names.
“But despite all of this intimidation, harassment, blackmail and name
calling against my person, I remain undeterred. I will continue to expose
their crimes against Nigerians and the nation’s democratic process by
using its men to subvert the express will and choice of who governs them
in favour of highly placed individuals in the governing APC.”
He noted that European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission, the
International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and other foreign and local election monitors, have
reported how the elections were hugely marred by military personnel and
this is public knowledge.
He said: “Besides, countless video, audio and photo evidence exist online
detailing some of the heinous atrocities of the military during the
elections, yet Buratai and the military want Nigerians to believe that I
am a “Protagonist of Fake News” for revealing before hand their plans to
hijack the nation’s political and electoral processes in favour of APC.
“Rather than seeking to kill, silence or liquidate me for putting before
Nigerians and the world information that they have not been able to
controvert, let Buratai and the military apologize to Nigerians for
deceiving them via fake news and propaganda that Boko Haram had been
defeated, degraded and Sambisa forest liberated.
“Even little children across Nigeria know that despite the spurious claims
by the military, Boko Haram has continued to wax strong and sinister –
killing, maiming, displacing and kidnapping scores of innocent Nigerians
on a regular basis.
“Apart, from the Northeast states of Borno and Yobe still under incessant
attacks from the insurgents, they have extended their theatre of
operations to include otherwise peaceful states in the Northwest like
Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna.
“Buratai and the military should apologize to Nigerians for being the
greatest harbinger of fake news and propaganda in the country by spreading
wholesale lies
that Boko Haram had been defeated, including the presentation of a fake
Boko Haram flag to President Buhari with claims that Sambisa Forest has
been liberated.
He called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold to account
Buratai and all military personnel found to have engaged in the mindless
killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians in a bid to rig the just
concluded elections in favour of President Buhari and the the APC.
He also called on the EU and the United States to expedite their promise
to place visa restriction on those who promoted or perpetuated violence
and rigging during the last elections especially top military personnel,
APC stalwarts and members of their families.