Is Senate’s call for service chiefs’ sacking justified? Sesan

Is Senate’s call for service chiefs’ sacking justified?
Sesan

How are they (Senate members) sure that if President Buhari appoints new service chiefs, they would perform better than the present ones? There are political undertones to the whole thing; you don’t expect service chiefs to be everywhere there is a problem. Their responsibility is to issue instructions and to ensure that they are carried out. Have they sufficient equipment?

Have they been given sufficient incentives? Have they sufficient manpower? These are questions the senate should ask before saying that the service chiefs should be sacked.

You cannot send security personnel to confront insurgents without ensuring that they are well equipped.

Only recently, Buhari asked for $1bn to fund the fight against Boko Haram, but the senators opposed it.

Will they use their hands to fight the insurgents? They should give the President all the necessary requirements, including money to recruit more personnel.

The current situation does not call for unnecessary bottlenecks; it calls for cooperation between the executive and the legislature. They should work together to provide the security agencies with what they require to do their job and provide security for the people. • Abubakar Tsav (Commissioner of Police, retd.)

I think it will be nice to have a different set of individuals to begin to inject new ideas to address the current security challenges in the country because there is no reason why we should keep those who are there and are not bringing in new innovations on board in terms of how they respond to security challenges.

Their tenure has expired and it is only natural that the government bring on board those who can bring fresh ideas into the entire security architecture. The Senate is very correct. Sometimes we try to politicise issues but I think it is time for us to respond to issues very objectively. President Buhari has also not been able to reshuffle his cabinet despite the lacklustre performance of most of them.

So it is time for him to know that the lives of Nigerians are more important than any personal interest he may have in any individual. Whether he has interests in any of the service chiefs or not, it does not in any way justify the current mayhem.

I think they probably have a succession plan but I know they have a selection process which also is something that we need to critically look at because it must be based on merit. The current insecurity/herdsmen attacks are not good.

It might be an internal security issue but the police cannot effectively take care of the situation like this. The truth is also that the President has the constitutional mandate to deploy military in a situation like this. We are not entirely putting the blame on the military because they are also currently over-stretched.

It is important for leaders within the  Nigerian Armed Forces to also get those who have that capacity to respond to internal security challenges because we cannot continue to manage the wanton loss of lives that we wake up to hear almost on a daily basis. •Mr. Salaudeen Hashim (Secretary, National Peace and Security Forum)

Well, first of all, the Senate was not consulted when the service chiefs were appointed. And their appointments are not subject to Senate or National Assembly’s confirmation.

But as concerned Nigerians elected by the people, the Senate also have the right to advise the President that in view of the escalating insecurity threats and crises, and in their own assessment, the service chiefs have not lived up to expectations.

The Senate therefore has a right in that regard. They have a right to call for the sacking of the security chiefs. But the person who appointed them is the only person who can remove them from office. But if he feels that they are doing well, and decides to leave them, possibly he has some information that we don’t have.

It is up to him if he is retaining them for some reasons. Nigerians too