By Gift Chapi Odekina
The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for the resignation of service chiefs following insecurity challenge facing the country.
The demand for their resignation amongst others were resolved at when Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila had put up a voice vote on the floor that went in favour of the majority during plenary.
Monguno, who lead the debate, said the upsurge of insurgency in the North East now constitute a threat to the territorial integrity of the country.
“I regret to announce that of recent, there is resurgence in the activities of Boko Haram, to the extent of threatening the territorial integrity of this country as manifested in the consistent attacks on Maiduguri- Damaturu Road. And this Maiduguri- Damaturu Road is the only axis that Maiduguri and Yobe State has to the other parts of the country. And also links Nigeria to the republic of Cameroum and Republic of Chad. If this is allowed to go on; not only social activities but bbusiness activities will be affected”, said Hon. Muhammed Monguno (APC, Borno).
Contributing to the debate, lawmakers said the service chiefs have been deploying same strategies in the anti-terror since 2015, noting that they have outlived their usefulness, as such should resign or be shown the way out by the President.
The chairman House Committee on Defense Babajimi Benson said the fact that the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai and the Chief of Air Staff, Sadiq Abubakar, who are from the North East cannot visit their communities due to insecurity, speaks volume.
” The NSA is from Maiduguri, he can’t get to his village.. The Chief of Army Staff is from Borno, he can’t go to his village. The Chief of Air Staff is from the North East, he can’t go to his village.
“That speaks volume of their inability to take us to the next level. But the decision lies with the the Commander on Chief. I don’t know whar he sees in the service chiefs, that he is still keeping them,” Benson stated.
Contributing also, the House minority leader Ndudi Elumelu said there is need for the government to declare a state of emergency on security in the country, as well as adequately equip the police and other security agencies to boost their capacity in fighting crime.
He said the greatest factor militating against the fight against insurgency in the country is that some persons are profiting from it. He added that as long as the anti-terror war remains a money making venture, the country cannot overcome insurgency.
“As long as they are making money thorough fighting insurgency, we can’t overcome insurgency. Do they have the capacity? The service chiefs are not showing good example.
” They have overstayed their usefulness. If they really love this county, the right thing to do is to take a bow and go. If you talk to the officers, they will tell you that their challenges is their overall bosses. That is enough problem.
“Then we begin to talk about capacity. We should declare state of emergency on security. There is need for our members to actually go beyond oversight, they shouldn’t actually look at the books. People are stealing money, they are not doing what they should do,” the minority leader stated.
