President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria declared on Tuesday the replacement of the service chiefs of Nigeria.
In the statement announcing their replacement, Femi Adesina announced that Buhari had acknowledged the Service Chiefs’ immediate resignation and their withdrawal from service.
“PMB appoints new Service Chiefs. Maj Gen LEO Irabor, CDS, Maj Gen I Attahiru, Army, Rear Adm AZ Gambo, Navy, AVM IO Alao, Air Force. He congratulates outgoing Service Chiefs on efforts to bring enduring peace to the country,” Adesina tweeted
Irabor succeeds Defense Chief Abayomi Olonisakin, while Attahiru is replaced by Army Chief Tukur Buratai.
Gambo is now in charge of the Navy, replacing Navy Chief Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, while Alao takes over from Air Chief Sadique Abubakar.
In 2015, after being elected for his first presidential term, the replaced service chiefs were named by Buhari, but as Nigeria continued to wallow in security problems, there was a widespread clamor for their sack.
In 2020, a resolution was passed by the Nigerian House of Representatives calling on all military service chiefs to resign. The resolution called on Buhari to fire them if they did not. The Senate had also expressed the opinion earlier that the service chiefs had to go. It appears that the House motion is more formal than the Senate’s action.
Buhari said that in our efforts to bring lasting peace to our beloved country, the outgoing service chiefs had “overwhelming achievements.” A stance that would be disapproved by many critics.
The security breakdown is nationwide, and is becoming a major political issue. In 2020, in the face of a kidnapping crisis, the six governors of southwestern states moved to set up a defense force to complement and assist the national police force. Twenty-three states across the country have established local security organisations, ranging from neighborhood watches to armed police, according to a Guardian report.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
