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Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, on Thursday rebuffed criticisms of his comments earlier in the week at a meeting of the Arewa Consultative Forum.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, on Thursday rebuffed criticisms of his comments earlier in the week at a meeting of the Arewa Consultative Forum. He said critics were merely seeking to make a political capital from his utterances.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, Malu said he did not say that he regretted not overthrowing President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"In my address to the ACF, I recalled a lot of what went wrong when I was the COAS and my disagreement with the President which resulted to my early retirement. I specifically mentioned issues of the US and their effort to update their intelligence on the Armed Forces of Nigeria, especially the Army in the guise training the Army for peacekeeping duties. I made a statement to the effect that on reflection now, it was good that I was kicked out of service, else I might have changed from being a democrat to something else."
Malu was severely critical of the Deputy Chairman, South, Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olabode George, who had criticized him over the reported comment. He said the PDP chieftain "may be the only retired or serving military officer who would not know that those who wish to overthrow governments or stage coup d'etat do not make public statement to that effect."
The PUNCH, Friday, February 3, 2006