Army to Fayose: Stop politicising our operations

THE Nigerian Army, on Thursday, came hard on the Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, over his comment on the fight against insurgency, warning him to desist from dragging the institution through the mud.

The army issued him the warning on its official twitter account (@HQNigerianArmy), tweeting, “Governor Fayose should stop politicising the military and military OPs, seek other avenues for your relevance. The army today is not corrupt.”

The tweet is believed to be a reaction to the governor’s recent criticism of the military in relation to its fight against terrorist group, Boko Haram.

After a report by the United States Department of State’s Bureau for Counter-terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, said the country’s war against Boko Haram was being hindered by animosity, Governor Fayose issued a statement through his spokesman, Lere Olayinka, on Wednesday.

In the statement, the governor said, “This report by the United States government has further lent credence to earlier revelation by the Transparency International (TI) that despite President Muhammadu Buhari government’s anti-corruption fight, corruption in the military is weakening Nigeria’s efforts to battle Boko Haram.

“As revealed by the TI, fight against Boko Haram has become a cash cow for some top military officers and corrupt politicians in the Buhari government, with the creation of fake defence contracts and laundering the proceeds often laundered abroad in the United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere.

“The TI went further to state that the military is left without vital equipment, insufficiently trained, low in morale and under-resourced.

“The Federal Government must, therefore, address the widespread corruption in the fight against Boko Haram as revealed by the TI and also see to the welfare of the military personnel involved in the fight.”