The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, has canvassed fixed tenure and rotation of the appointments of the Service Chiefs among Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.
At a public hearing organized by the House of Representatives committee on Defence, the CNS who was represented by Navy Commodore GI Ubong, Admiral Ibas stated opined that the appointment of Service Chiefs should be tenured and made rotational through an amendment of the existing Armed Forces Act, 2004.
At the public hearing which was to critically examine five bills refer to it by the legislators, Admiral Ibas explained that the appointment of Service Chiefs by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces through an amendment of the Armed Forces Act will boost the morale of serving military officers in the country
In a similar vein, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali noted that Section 18 of the Armed Forces Act should be deleted so that the President can exercise his constitutional powers to appoint Service Chiefs.
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The minister who was represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Danjuma Sheni, said that the appointment of Service Chiefs under the existing Act was in conflict with constitutional provision on the matter.
He cited Section 218 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which empowers the President to appoint the Service Chiefs to buttress his position.
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, said that the Nigerian Armed Forces need to be strengthened to among others, combat insurgency in the North East region.
Dogara in his opening remarks stated that the effectiveness of the nation’s security architecture is predicated on the manner of emergence of its leadership.
Sponsors of 5 Bills, Hon. Edward Pwajok (Plateau, APC), Hon. Joan Mrakpo (Delta, PDP), Hon. Nnanna Igbokwe (Imo, PDP) and Hon. Sanni Abdu (Bauchi, PDP), said that the amendment will strengthen the security agencies to perform optimally both in pre and post -conflict situations.
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