Statement By Retired General Oladipo Diya

Retired General Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff and second in command to Nigeria’s late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, was recently granted state pardon, alongside others, by President Goodluck Jonathan for his alleged involvement in the 1997 coup-plotting against the Abacha regime. And this is what he said recently:

        “The regime of General Sani Abacha assembled one of the best cabinets ever in the country. 

         Tell me anybody that was a gentleman that did not serve in the government”

      “The regime was not wicked and oppressive”.

Diya’s declaration however contradicted his stance that he was framed in the “phantom coup” because of his “principled opposition to the forces of tyranny in Nigeria”.