For the umpteenth time, President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to relieve his service chiefs of their positions and get fresh officers to do the job.
A group, the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, added its voice to the growing agitation, saying that the service chiefs be sacked for failing to tame the insecurity spreading across the country.
Members of the group, in a statement signed by national coordinator, Zana Goni, said they were disappointed in the New Year message of President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to announce the sack of the service chiefs.
The elders said the sack of the service chiefs remains the only way left for President Buhari to convince Nigerians that he wants results from the ongoing war against insecurity in the North East and other parts of the country.
The elders said the President’s retention of the service chiefs who have all exceeded their retirement age is not only unconstitutional but also weakens the morale of military personnel, especially those at the frontline.
The statement reads: “We listened to the New Year speech of Mr. President to Nigerians with rapt attention believing that he was going to give us a New Year gift in new service chiefs but the president to our disappointment, was silent on this key issue on the lips of every Nigerian.
“At the moment, the most important thing to every Nigerian is security. They want their lives to be protected first. The National Assembly has since understood this and that is why as representatives of the people, they have since been calling for a more robust,efficient and effective security management for the country.
“They recognised that this cannot be achieved without emplacing a complete new security architecture in place. That is why the two chambers of the legislature came up with resolutions seeking replacement of service chiefs but after many months of this genuine and patriotic call by the people’s representatives, President Buhari is yet to accede to their request. This is unfair to Nigerians whose lives are being cut down on daily basis.
“We still stand by the position of the National Assembly where members unanimously resolved that you relieve the security chiefs of their positions to pave way for not only fresh hands but also fresh ideas in our security management strategies.”
“Sacking the current chiefs and subsequently replacing them with new ones will automatically change the game of insecurity as the morale of fighting officers will be boosted, new strategies will be launched besides the flow of intelligence information among the security agencies.”