For the umpteenth time, the call for the sack of Nigeria’s Service Chiefs has resonated in the National Assembly. In a motion sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume at the Senate plenary on Tuesday, July 21, the Senate passed a resolution calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to dismiss the Service Chiefs from office, including the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas and Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin.
Both Chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate and House of Representatives had in previous resolutions called on President Buhari to fire these Service Chiefs. The trigger for this recent call was the story of desertion of the Nigerian Army by more than 300 soldiers in one fell swoop. In recent times, there have been reports of several Nigerian military personnel deserting the services. The Nigerian military has been in a long running battle with Boko Haram insurgents and terrorists, with no evidence in sight of progress being made to quell the insurgency in the North East. There has also been a significant rise in insecurity across the entire States of Nigeria’s Northern borders – Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, etc. Nigeria’s military has come under severe criticism for its failings. It was also severely criticised by election observers in the recently conducted 2019 general elections for interfering with the elections. In an unprecedented move, it deployed never before seen number of soldiers ostensibly to provide election security. What is however puzzling to most Nigerians and observers of Nigeria’s political space is why President Buhari has refused to act on the calls for the sack of the Service Chiefs. The Service Chiefs have been overdue for retirement and have stayed beyond legally permitted time limits in their positions. It is unclear why the President persists in retaining them in service despite the obvious illegality of continuing to do so.