ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Bashir Magashi, the Minister of Defence, has denied calling President-elect Bola Tinubu a drug lord. He described the claim as spurious.
The retired General purportedly said: “It is an insult to the Military to have a known drug lord as C-in-C of the Armed Forces of Nigeria”.
A statement on Saturday by his spokesperson Mohammad Abdul Kadri, Magashi said: “the myopic, diabolic and despotic publication can be traced to anti-democratic forces”.
He accused disgruntled elements of trying to drag his reputation and that of the nation’s “apolotical military” into disparaging Tinubu.
The minister recalled he was one of the first members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that congratulated the President-elect.
Magashi therefore, condemned the “concoction of fake news” against him at a time he is busy supervising the military in aid of civil authority to defend Nigeria’s democracy.
“The Minister’s unblemished pedigree speaks volume as a loyal member of APC alongside being a credible elderstateman in the same party with the President-elect.”
The statement added that no propaganda or blackmail targeted at Magashi and the military will stop them from dealing with any person or group whose agenda is to disrupt the 29 May inauguration.