By Chris Steven, Abuja
Following the gruesome murder of over 40 rice farmers in Borno State by Boko Haram on Saturday, the Senate on Tuesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari remove the Service Chiefs and replace them with people with fresh ideas and solutions.
The Senate also asked the President to restructure and remodel the entire security architecture and investigate allegations of widespread corruption and leakages within the security architecture.
The resolution followed a debate during plenary 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.
Kashim Shettima, a former Governor of Borno State and Senator representing Borno Central Senatorial District had earlier raised the motion at plenary noting that President Buhari should remove the security chiefs and replace them with new ones with ideas to address the alarming insecurity in the country.
The lawmaker also claimed that 67 farmers were killed in the attack.
He warned that any government that cannot protect the lives of its citizens has lost any iota of legitimacy.
Ali Ndume, the senator representing Borno South Senatorial District lamented that the national budget is woefully inadequate and soldiers do not have enough arms and ammunition.
He said he has observed in the course of visiting military formations soldiers sharing arms and ammunition. He also claims that he has not seen any soldier wielding a brand new AK47 rifle.
Ndume suggested that Nigeria should explore the use of mercenaries to assist in fighting Boko Haram.
Also, the House of Representatives has passed a resolution to invite President Buhari to brief the house on the true state of the security situation in the country.
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.
No date was announced for the invitation.
The debate had earlier led to a rowdy session after the Speaker Femi 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. The Speaker described 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.
Meanwhile, Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant on media and publicity to the President said the repeated and renewed calls to sack the nation’s service chiefs were out of place.
Garba, who stated this during an interview on Arise Television stated that it is the prerogative of the president to appoint or sack any of the country’s service chiefs.
While stating that he was not aware that the tenure of the service chiefs is subjected to any law or regulation Garba added that the president can keep the service chiefs as long as he is satisfied with their performance.
“I am not aware that the tenure of service chiefs is subjected to any law or regulation that is clearly stated. They serve at the pleasure of the president and (if) the president is satisfied with their performance, he keeps them. The buck stops on his table —with due respect to the feelings of Nigerians,” he said.
“The clamour for the sack is out of place considering that the president is not subject to the opinion of the opposition political party which has clamoured for this all the time. It is entirely his own determination; he decides who he keeps as his service chiefs and for how long.”
