Facts about President Buhari Vs Shehu Shagari

A video is going viral where President Muhammadu Buhari said he did not regret ousting President Shehu Shagari through a military coup has resurfaced just as Buhari has flown to Sokoto State to commiserate with Shagari ’s family.
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.

Expectedly , many persons have tagged Buhari and his media aides to the video .
Reacting to Shagari ’s death on Friday , the President said on his official Twitter handle that he would miss the former President who was a man of integrity .

He wrote , “I mourn the departure of a patriot , who served Nigeria with humility , integrity and diligence . Nigerians held him in the highest esteem even when he was out of office , until his demise , and will forever miss his wise counsels .”
However , a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission , Prof . Chidi Odinkalu, said Buhari ’s condolence message would be watery without an apology.

Odinkalu said Shagari was a man of peace and forgiveness , adding that as President , he pardoned a former Head of State , Gen . Yakubu Gowon , who had been on exile after being implicated in the assassination of Gen . Murtala Muhammed .

He noted that Shagari also pardoned Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu , the leader of the defunct Biafran Republic who was also on exile.
Odinkalu wrote , “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

“President Shagari did four remarkable things to bring the wounds of Nigeria : First he pardoned Emeka Odumegwu -Ojukwu , 1982 ; he pardoned Yakubu Gowon , 1981; he pardoned Michael Okpara , 1981 and he granted Nigeria ’s highest civilian honour , GCFR , to Obafemi Awolowo, 1981 .”
Some other Twitter users wondered why Buhari would topple Shagari ’s government and put him on house arrest for nearly two years if the latter was a man of honour as claimed by Buhari in his condolence message.
Meanwhile , Buhari has flown to Sokoto State to commiserate with the family of the late President who was buried on Saturday.

In a tweet on Sunday, Buhari ’s aide, Bashir Ahmad , posted a picture of his principal boarding the Presidential jet with the caption , “President Buhari leaving Abuja for Sokoto, on a condolence visit to the state government and family of former President , Alhaji Shehu Shagari over his death.”