No, Nigeria’s army spokesman did not quit over a Buhari ‘crackdown plan’

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on February 22, 2019 at 14:15
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Nigeria, Mayowa TIJANI

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Posts shared by over a thousand Facebook users claim that former Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman resigned saying he did not want to be a part of a crackdown by President Muhammadu Buhari against “innocent Nigerian” people if he lost the forthcoming election. But while Usman did retire this month after 36 years in service, he made no such comments at the time and has reasserted that he did not resign for political reasons.

The post published by the Facebook page Dailymail Gist on February 19 shared a picture of Usman with the caption: “BREAKING NEWS!!! Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, Director Army Public Relations, Announces His Voluntary Retirement From The Nigerian Army. Saying!! I will not be part of what The presidency planned against innocent Nigerian if Buhari didn't win 2019 Election!!!”

A screenshot taken on February 22, 2019 showing the false Facebook post

Other posts shared the same claim, including here and here. But Usman’s statement at the time of his resignation on February 7, released on his official Facebook page, made no reference to Buhari, saying he was “leaving highly fulfilled after contributing my best to national development”.

A screenshot taken on February 22, 2019 shows Sani Usman's retirement statement

And on February 20 he released another statement describing the posts as “mischievous fake news” and saying he had never issued any such public comments against Buhari or a supposed crackdown planned by the president in the event of a defeat in the election, which has been delayed until February 23.

“I voluntarily retired from the Nigerian Army on 7th February 2019 having served for over three decades and commenced my terminal leave the following day,” Usman said.

A screenshot taken on February 22, 2019, showing Sani Usman's comments on the fake posts

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