Former Managing Director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Chief Tola Adeniyi has expressed reservation on the May 29, a date President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to hand over to the President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement, Adeniyi raised the fear of attempt by some elements in the corridor of power allegedly hell bent in truncating the handover process as a measure to shield them from the incoming administration.

Categorising the hawks into three groups, Adeniyi said they were so desperate that they had prepared to either lay down their live in achieving their objective or mow down live of any counter-force.

“The group that virtually emptied our national treasury and feared that the coming of Buhari may hand over to them long jail sentences in addition to coughing up their ill gotten wealth would do everything humanly possible to eliminate whatever stood in their way of continued lavish enjoyment and the prison.

“There is yet another group which is definite that their stay in office will be over on May 29. This is the group that was notorious for abusing their office. To them nothing short of death should terminate their reckless misuse of office. To this group it is kill or be killed.

“The third group is the cabal that dots all our Government Agencies and parastatals. They are sure that search light is being beamed on them and a lot of their skeletons will be brought to public glare. They too are desperate, very desperate and panicky,” he said.

Adeniyi added, “There is nothing panic cannot do. And history is replete with assassinations that were purely engineered by panic. Recently some top vegetable sellers had started crying that their vegetables were not harvested from refuse dump, even when no one had queried the source of their messy vegetables.

“Nobody had asked all those who have been beating their chests a few days back that their loyalty was to Nigeria and not to any individual or political party. It is strange that such declarations started pouring in after the unforgettable experiences in Anambra, Ekiti, Osun, Rivers, Imo and Akwa Ibom states!”

He also reminded the nation of the Orubebe drama as one of the plots by the hawks. According to Adeniyi, information available to him revealed that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attairu Jega was planned to be kidnapped and all results collated and were being announced destroyed.

The plan, he insisted, was to do to Jega what was done to Nwosu in 1993 and declare the Presidential Elections inconclusive.

“But God saved Nigeria and the thousands of lives that would have been lost that historic day. There is no doubt that there are still many more Orubebes lurking round the corner.

It is critical to remind all those who may be planning a dastardly act to perish the thought. Nigeria is the world’s seventh largest country in population. We simply cannot afford a Rwanda or a Somalia! Should Nigeria lapse into any fratricide, there is no country in the world that can accommodate our refugee problem,” he noted.

Adeniyi argued that the concern shown by the international community was predicated on their massive investments in Nigeria, and the serious refugee epidemic that might flow into their countries if Nigeria went out of step.

He also queried the shift in handover date from May 29 to May 28 as being speculated. He further explained that should President Jonathan went ahead to handover on May 28, it would mean that Constitutionally Nigeria would be without a President for 24 hours, making the nation to be vulnerable and put Nigerians in the dark.

He insisted that the May 28 was unacceptable, therefore, calling on Nigerians to reject it.

“General Muhammadu Aleko Buhari, our President-elect must be allowed to fulfil God’s mission for Nigeria. General Buhari is on a rescue mission, no one born of woman should derail God’s salvation,” he said.

•Photo shows Adeniyi

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