Channels Television
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday appointed new Service Chiefs following the resignation of the former officers.
Major-General Leo Irabor replaced General Abayomi Olonisakin as Chief of Defence Staff; Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao replaced Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo replaced Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff; while General Ibrahim Attahiru replaced Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as Chief of Army Staff.
Below is a brief profile of the new officers.
Chief of Defence Staff
Major-General Leo Irabor was born on October 5, 1965 and hails from Ika South LGA of Delta State.
Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, says the appointment of security chiefs is not subject to federal character.
Adesina who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, said this while responding to comments about alleged nepotism in appointments under the current administration.
According to him, while certain appointments are subject to Federal Character, security is not one of those.
“There are certain appointments that are subject to federal character, for instance, the constitution says that there must be a minister from each state of the country but there are certain appointments that are also not subject to federal character and one of them is in the security,” he said.
A barrel of crude oil currently sells for 50 dollars per barrel at the international market.
The report also revealed that the country also lost slightly above one million metric tons of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 2.6m litres of premium motor spirit (PMS) and 3.6m litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) between January and December 2020.
In the report, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ekwe-Ibas noted that 339 pirate attacks were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea and out of which 214 of the attacks as well as 107 activities of sea robbers occurred within the nation’s territorial waters in 2020
When, on January 1, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari made one of his rare addresses to Nigerians, he harped on the insecurity situation in the country, insisting that the war against insurgent groups like the Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers, will be tackled head-on.
A few days later, on Friday, January 8, to be precise, the Defence Minister, Magashi Salihu, reiterated the President’s stance when he said that the year, 2021, has been earmarked as the year the insurgents would be wiped out of Nigeria.
Quoting Buhari, Salihu said:
“This is a year of action and we will finish what we are doing.”
As laudable as this claim may sound, Nigerians have not forgotten the many times President Buhari and his aides, including the Service Chiefs, have promised Nigerians that they will flush out the terrorists by taking the war to them in their hideouts.
Captain allegedly faces court-martial over petition against CNS
Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
A former Assistant Director Procurement in the Defence Intelligence Agency, Capt. Emmanuel Ekpe, has reportedly been summoned to appear before a court-martial in Lagos, for allegedly petitioning the president, accusing the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, of misconduct.
Ekpe, aka Owen, a decorated naval officer, was said to have been relieved of his appointment at the DIA following the petition in which he accused Ibas of corruption, abuse of office and employment of state powers to pursue personal vendetta.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the lawyers to the captain, Pelumi Olajengbesi, titled, ‘Demand for the immediate sacking of the CNS for gross misconduct and acts capable of destroying national security.’