A video in which President Muhammadu Buhari said he did not regret overthrowing President Shehu Shagari through a military coup has reappeared.
In the video, which was an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme which was recorded in December 2014, Buhari said he had no regret removing Shagari, adding that a democratic government that is corrupt can be overthrown.
When asked if he was sorry for ousting Shagari’s government, Buhari said, “No. I am not sorry because I mentioned why we did it and we proved our case.”
When reminded of the fact that the coup veered Nigeria off the course of democratic advancement, Buhari said, “So, when you are a democracy, you are entitled to steal the country dry and put our people in a pauperised position and destroying institutions and destroying infrastructure?”
However, when asked if he blames Shagari solely for the corruption, Buhari responded: “Don’t personalise it. I will blame the Second Republic for that.”
The video, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, attracted comments from a wide range of persons.
Reacting to Shagari’s death on Friday, the President said on Twitter that he would miss the former president who was a man of integrity.
However, a former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu said Buhari’s condolence message would be watery without an apology.
“I’m not holding my breath but I’d have thought that the death of President Shagari is a perfect opportunity for the man who toppled a popularly elected govt on Dec 31, 1983 to apologise for that crime. Saying all these nice things now risks being branded insincere or cynical,” Mr Odinkalu wrote.
