Service chiefs: N’Assembly Submits Proposal, Buhari Promises Changes

By Lazarus Zakaa, Abuja

Nigerians may see “changes soon” in addressing the insecurity in the country, including the possible sacking of the service chiefs.

This came out of the one-hour closed-door meeting between the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd.), and the leadership of the National Assembly on Monday.

The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, joined Buhari for the meeting at 3 .04 pm at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting came just days after the two chambers of the legislature passed resolutions calling for urgent solutions to the insecurity in the country.

The House had last week urged the President to sack the service chiefs; while the Senate urged Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security.

The two presiding officers of the National Assembly met with the President in Aso Rock on Monday and submitted the parliament’s resolutions to him.

Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, both Lawan and Gbajabiamila admitted that the case of the service chiefs was a key issue mentioned among the general discussions about insecurity.

Lawan said, “We discussed everything that matters as far as the issue of security of this country is concerned.

“We believe that it is imperative that we are able to provide those necessary equipment and welfare for the armed forces and the police to ensure that they are able to perform efficiently and effectively.”

When asked what Buhari’s response was, Lawan said the President agreed with the National Assembly that the security situation required an urgent intervention.

He said, “So, we are on the same page that we should be able to do whatever it takes to ensure that the security agencies are able to perform better than they are doing now.”

When asked again whether he thought replacing the service chiefs would bring immediate solutions, Lawan replied that the security situation had reached a “tipping point ” that needed the collective intervention of all Nigerians, including whatever decisions the government had to take to bring succour to the people.

On his part, Gbajabiamila stated that “changes ” would be witnessed by Nigerians soon, flowing from the discussions with Buhari.

He stated, “Major progress was made in this discussion, which is a meeting that lasted over an hour and I believe Nigerians will begin to see traction. They will begin to see changes.”

Gbajabiamila noted that the current insecurity in the form of banditry , kidnapping and killings were internal security matters, as against aggression by external enemies.

He argued that while internal security was the responsibility of the police, dealing with external aggression was the job of the armed forces.

The Speaker added that this left the government in a dilemma as to whether changing the service chiefs would address the internal security challenges.

He said, “Is the President as concerned as we are ? Probably more. Is the President looking to do something about it? Yes. The question of security is uppermost in his mind and he opened up to us and you must understand that some communications are privileged, but suffice to say that the President is concerned and he intends to do something about our challenges.

“Opinions are divided; the generality of the opinion is that the service chiefs should go, that was evident in our debates in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, but sometimes you don’t want a knee – jerk reaction.

“Many of us identify that something drastic has to be done ; there is also the school of thought that says since we are talking about banditry, kidnapping and murders, what have the armed forces got to do with that, anywhere in the world ? So, the question then arises that if he changes the service chiefs, does that address the issues of kidnapping and banditry? The Army, Navy and Air Force are outfits set up to tackle external aggression.

It is the police that are set up for internal security, such as we are all witnessing.”

When asked whether he thought the Inspector -General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu , should be fired, the Speaker again gave a diplomatic answer, saying that many Nigerians felt that he had done well, but could do better with the right support in terms of funding and equipment.

He added that a committee was raised that would periodically review the security situation.

SOURCE: Punch News