President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his anti-corruption war in the military led to his removal by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida in 1985.
He made this known in an interview published in the current edition of The Interview magazine.
Buhari stated that senior military leaders expelled him in August ’85 to save themselves from his wrath.
After himself coming to power in 1983 via a coup, Buhari was deposed two years later by a coup led by Ibrahim Babangida, a retired general and former military president, Aliyu Gusau, former director of military intelligence (DMI), and other members of the ruling supreme military council (SMC) , and he was detained in Benin until 1988.
Recalling the incidents that happened 31 years ago, he challenged Babangida and Gusau to tell the truth on why they carried out the coup against him.
The President said: “I learnt that Aliyu Gusau, who was in charge of intelligence, took import licence from the ministry of commerce, which was in charge of supplies and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe.
“It was worth N100, 000, a lot of money at that time. I confronted them and took the case to the Army council in a memo…I wanted Gusau punished.”
Buhari reportedly challenged Babangida and Gusau to come clean on why they removed him, asking The Interview to choose whose story to believe.
Buhari’s current anti-corruption crusade has claimed its biggest casualties in the military, with Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser having been in detention since 2015 over the $2.1bn arms scandal.
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