On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu formally requested that the newly appointed Service Chiefs be confirmed in a letter to the House of Representatives.
The request was made in a letter that Speaker Tajudeen Abbas read aloud on the House floor on Thursday during the regular session.
The President requested that lawmakers take into account the swift confirmation of the Service Chiefs in accordance with current laws.
This occurred as the President was advised to negotiate with the bandits terrorizing the region of the North-West by the Arewa Consultative Forum.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen C.G Musa, Chief of Army Staff, Maj. T. A. Lagbaja, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral E. Ogalla, and AVM Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff are the service chiefs who need to be confirmed.
According to Tinubu, the request complied with the requirements of section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act. Cap. A20 of the 2004 Federal Laws of Nigeria.
According to The PUNCH, the security directors were chosen on June 19 while the National Assembly was on vacation.
In accordance with the terms of section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act, CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the letter stated in part, “In accordance with the provisions of section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act, I am pleased to present, for confirmation by the Senate, the four nominees listed below as Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs for the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The invitation reads, “The House of Representatives is invited to note the current security situation in our country which requires concerted efforts of both the legislature and the executive to ensure a well-protected Nation.”
Maj Gen C.G. Musa, Chief of Defence Staff; Maj T. A. Lagbaja, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral E. A. Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff; and AVM H. B. Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff, were also mentioned in the letter.
This was taken into consideration when our defense architecture was reviewed and new leaders were chosen to collaborate effectively and meet the military’s standards for performance.
Please accept, Rt Hon. Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration even though I hope that the House of Representatives will quickly consider and approve the request.
In the meantime, the Arewa Consultative Forum declared on Thursday that it would support any strategy, including talks with the thugs, to put an end to banditry in some parts of the north.
The pan-Northern group insisted that before the proposed negotiations, the Federal Government should establish the ground rules.
Malam Murtala Aliyu, the secretary-general of the forum, stated that this was done to ensure that the negotiations did not fall through like earlier ones.
He claimed that using force militarily would cause “collateral damage” and should only be used as a last resort.
The group agreed with suggestions made by Ahmad Yerima, a former governor of Zamfara State, that the North Western governors should engage in dialogue with the bandits terrorizing the area.
The best strategy for dealing with bandits is to start a conversation. However, as I previously stated, if that fails, the government will make every effort to get rid of them, Yerima had declared following a Monday courtesy call to the President.
The ACF declared that it supported any action that would reduce the unrest in the area and other parts of the nation.
According to Aliyu, “ACF will welcome any approach that resolves the problem. We are aware that both the kinetic and non-kinetic approach are crucial. But because there have been other negotiations that didn’t work out, the government must establish the ground rules before engaging in talks with the bandits. The outcome wasn’t good.
Therefore, the government must ensure that all the conditions for negotiations are met before engaging them this time. What we are saying is that the problem should be solved using any strategy, including negotiations if they are a possibility.
No pardon for Zamfara
However, the Zamfara State Government pledged to fight bandits aggressively and emphasized that there would be no amnesty for them.
The Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Nakwada, spoke to journalists in his office on Tuesday and declared that the state government would wage a war against them until they were completely eradicated from the state.
Nakwada claimed that the governor Dauda Lawal administration had no intention of attempting a reconciliation or holding talks with the bandits.
He insisted that in order to restore peace, the state government would hunt them down wherever they might be hiding.
We’re not talking about amnesty, he declared. We are prepared to confront them head-on and will not make amends with them.
Another development was the absence of Senate President Godswill Akpabio from the plenary on Thursday in order to attend a “very important” meeting with the President at the Villa.
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau presided over the plenary meeting and informed the other senators of Akpabio’s absence.
Let me tell you that the Senate President was unable to attend today’s proceedings because he had a crucial meeting at the Villa, Barau said.
The former governor of Edo state, Senator Adams Oshiomole, also requested permission to leave the plenary when it came time to present his motion, so he was unable to do so, according to our correspondent.
Although the deputy Senate President declined to explain why Akpabio hurried to the White House, our correspondent learned that it was likely related to the crisis escalating between the National Assembly and Senator Adamu Abdullahi, the APC’s national chairman.
Adamu had asserted that he was unaware of the nominations for the principal officers of the National Assembly that had been made public by Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Senate.
The national chairman claimed he was unaware of the development during a meeting with the Progressive Governors Forum on Tuesday, which was presided over by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.
