Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai (retd.), has called on Nigerians to resist foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs amid efforts to release documents linked to decades-old drug-trafficking allegations involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a position paper titled “Nigeria First: A Case for Protecting National Sovereignty and Dignity – A Patriotic and Non-Partisan Perspective,” posted on his verified Facebook page on Sunday, Buratai urged the nation to prioritise national interest, sovereignty, and dignity over partisan considerations.
The retired general’s intervention follows reports that a United States District Court for the District of Columbia has given President Tinubu, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice until August 28, 2026, to oppose the release of documents relating to alleged investigations that date back more than 33 years.
Buratai stressed that the issue transcends any individual. “This is not merely about Bola Tinubu it is about 250 million Nigerians whose national pride, economic prospects, and global standing hang in the balance,” he stated. He warned that international headlines linking a “Nigerian president” to drug allegations would not distinguish the individual from the nation: “They see Nigeria. They see Nigerians.”
The former Army chief argued that allegations from roughly 33 years ago should not define an entire public career spanning decades of service, including Tinubu’s tenure as Governor of Lagos State and his subsequent national leadership role. “Can any Nigerian honestly claim that they are the same person they were 33 years ago? Can any nation claim that its leaders should be judged exclusively by the actions of their youth rather than by their decades of subsequent service?” he asked.
Buratai questioned the propriety of a foreign court determining the reputation of a sitting Nigerian President. “Does the United States have the right to determine the reputation of Nigeria’s head of state? Should a foreign court be the arbiter of character for a man elected by millions of Nigerians? We did not elect an American court to vet our leaders. We did not ask the FBI to determine the character of our president,” he declared.
He cautioned that the release of such documents could damage Nigeria’s international image, deter foreign direct investment, affect development partnerships, diaspora remittances, tourism, and the global operations of Nigerian businesses. “These are not abstract concerns; they are concrete threats to the livelihoods of everyday Nigerians,” Buratai said. He further linked the timing of any potential disclosure to the 2027 general elections, warning that it could grant foreign actors “an unprecedented influence over the outcome of Nigerian elections.”
While emphasising that leaders must not be immune from accountability, Buratai insisted that accountability must respect the dignity of the office and the nation. He called on the Federal Government to engage the United States diplomatically and urged President Tinubu’s legal team to deploy all available legal arguments against the release of the documents. He also advocated national solidarity, public education, engagement with the Nigerian diaspora, and the strengthening of domestic institutions to handle questions of leadership accountability.
“This is not about defending Tinubu the individual; it is about defending Nigeria,” Buratai concluded. “We will not allow foreign courts to determine our leaders’ legacies. We will not allow foreign legal proceedings to dictate our national narrative. We will not sacrifice 250 million people on the altar of a 33-year-old case.”
He urged Nigerians to approach the matter “not out of fear, but out of conviction the conviction that our nation’s pride is not for sale, our dignity is not negotiable, and our future will not be determined by a foreign court’s judgment on a distant past.”