Ø Reps to Summon Buhari over security situation
Ø ‘House will consider compensation to farmers in Zambamari’ – Gbajabiamila
Ø Service Chiefs’ll remain as long as Buhari is satisfied with them – Garba Shehu
The Senate has recommended that President Muhammadu Buhari remove the Service Chiefs and replace them with people with fresh ideas and solutions.
The lawmakers are also asking President Buhari to restructure and remodel the entire security architecture and investigate allegations of widespread corruption and leakages within the security architecture.
The lawmakers made this recommendation at Tuesday’s plenary during a debate on security in the nation and the attack on rice farmers in Borno State which left at least 40 dead.
The Upper Chamber also recommends the recruitment of 10,000 civilian JTF to complement the efforts of the Armed Forces and explore a multilateral partnership with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
Similarly, the House of Representatives has passed a resolution to invite the President to brief the House on the true state of the security situation in the country.
Picture caption: House Speaker, Femi Gbajabimaila
The decision to summon President Buhari was taken at Tuesday’s plenary when the House was considering a motion moved by members from Borno State on the recent massacre of 43 rice farmers in the state by Boko Haram insurgents. However, no date was announced for the invitation.
The House Speaker, Femi Gbajabimaila had earlier disclosed that the House will consider a compensation package of Farmers in Zambamari who recently suffered attacks by Boko Haram insurgents which resulted in the killings of 43 farmers.
Gbajabiamila, in his remarks, said the compensation is to prevent the farmers from rushing back to their farm to harvest as it has turned to a killing field.
The debate had earlier been rowdy after Gbajabiamila appealed that it would be inappropriate to invite the president to disclose the actions being taken towards handling the security situation in the country, describing it as counter-productive. Some members of the House were opposed to the speaker’s position and this turned into a divisive debate. The House then went into an executive session to resolve the matter.
In a related development, the Federal Government of Nigeria has said the demands for the sack of service chiefs is not the solution to the security challenges in the country.
Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the nation’s Service Chiefs will remain in office as far as President Buhari is satisfied with their performance.
Shehu, who featured during a television programme on Monday night, said the calls for the sack of the service chiefs are “out of place”.
During the TV programme, Shehu faulted claims the tenure of the service chiefs have expired, saying the law does not prescribe such term limit, saying, “I am not aware that the tenure of service chiefs is subject to any law or regulation that is clearly stated. They serve at the pleasure of the president”.
