A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. AbdulRaheem Olajide Jimoh, has called on the Federal Government to query the immediate past Chief of Defence staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, over his recent comments concerning the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the country.
The legislator made this position known in a statement made available by his media office in Lagos, adding that the statement credited to Badeh could demoralise other military personnel.
Jimoh, a representative of Lagos Mainland Constituency said Badeh’s comment was distractive and could demoralise other military personnel in the country.
“He should be careful and watchful. I want to advise President Mohammadu Buhari to invite him and query him accordingly. Why is he is making such comments after his retirement? It is rather unfortunate and it’s not good for the country’s military personnel,” he said adding further that it was not expected of a person who had just retired from the military to make such unguarded statements at this time of the nation’s history.
He then advised other military personnel, particularly those in top hierarchy, to be careful of what they say in public.
“If Alex Badeh has anything to say at all as the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, he ought to have discussed it personally with President Muhammadu Buhari and advised him accordingly.
“This is the same person that criticised the Governor of Borno state when the latter said last year that the military was under-equipped and under-utilised.
“Why is he now telling us stories after his retirement?” Jimoh asked.
It would be recalled that Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh (retd) said during his pulling out parade that some past Nigerian governments acceded to the demands of some foreign countries to reduce the size of the nation’s military and thus deprived the nation’s defence forces of the requisite funding and size.
