For failing to tackle the rising wave of criminality and alarming increase of insecurity in the country, the House of Representatives has demanded the immediate resignation of the Service Chiefs; accusing them of transforming the security situation in the country into a cash cow for their self-aggrandizement. The green chamber called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack them if they fail to resign.
The House reached the resolution on Wednesday following the unanimous adoption of a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, on the need to curb the incessant attacks of the Boko Haram insurgents. The lawmakers in their different contributions to the debate on insecurity across Nigeria lamented at the uncertainty of the security of lives and properties in the country at yesterday’s plenary.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Jimi Benson bemoaned how long it’s taking the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police and other security agencies to defeat the murderous Islamist insurgents.
Benson invited the service chiefs to brief the committee on the progress on security. Another lawmaker Abubakar Fulata termed the war against insecurity as a money-making venture for a powerful cabal.
“It seems to be a cash cow for powerful individuals considering the fact that the war has raged on for more than 7 years,” Fulata said. He and other lawmakers called for the replacement of armed personnel in the different parts of the country.
After the long debate on the motion, the lawmaker representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza federal constituency of Borno State, Ahmadu Jaha, called for the resignation and/or sacking of all the security chiefs in the additional prayers he made on the motion. The lawmakers called on “all the service chiefs to resign immediately, failing which the President should remove them”
In a related development, Senate minority leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over spike in insecurity in the country. “If you want to treat an issue, you go to the head. We did not appoint the IG or the security chiefs. We will go to the president and ask him to resign,” Abaribe said.
However, while reacting to Abaribe’s motion, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said Abaribe’s submissions were unnecessary. The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, also appealed to his colleagues to approach the issue with caution.
On Tuesday, Buhari said he was surprised at the growing insecurity, and said his government will be “harder” on bandits. The Presidency dismissed Abaribe’s call for Buhari’s resignation as unjustifiable
