President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met with the new service chiefs, urging them to concentrate their efforts on helping his administration to deliver on its electoral pledge to make Nigeria a safer place for citizens to live.
A statement by the president’s media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted Buhari as congratulating the new appointees, and telling them that their job is well cut out for them given the insecurity wracking the nation.
The president’s maiden meeting with the new service chiefs, however, coincided with rising criticism of the presidential appointment without a request for confirmation by the National Assembly as required by law.
But the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has urged Buhari to hold the new service chiefs accountable for the success or failure of the war against insecurity even as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the tenure of the immediate past service chiefs for alleged atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by security operatives under their command.
The president said: “We are in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country.
“There’s nothing I can tell you about the service because you are in it.
“I was also in it and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done, so that the people will appreciate your efforts.
“You know the stage we were in 2015, you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made. We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress.”
Buhari also charged the service chiefs to be concerned about the morale of their officers and men, saying they should be made to feel physically and professionally secure. He pledged that the federal government will do its best in providing equipment and logistics to make them win the war against insecurity.
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