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Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Medi and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the agitation for change of service chiefs is ‘out of place’.
He disclosed this in an interview with Arise TV on Monday.
Shehu who said that the onus lies on President Buhari to appoint or sack any of the service noted that his boss retains the sole right to keep the service chief as long as he is pleased with their performance.
The killing of at least 43 rice farmers at Zabarmari in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State last Saturday by suspected Boko Haram insurgents rejuvenated a public outcry for the dismissal of the country’s service chiefs.
But reacting to the demands, Shehu said the call to sack or retain service chiefs is exclusively reserved for the President.
Shehu said, “I am not aware that the tenure of service chiefs is subjected to any law or regulation that is clearly stated. They serve at the pleasure of the president and (if) the president is satisfied with their performance, he keeps them. The buck stops on his table —with due respect to the feelings of Nigerians.
“The clamour for the sack is out of place considering that the president is not subject to the opinion of opposition political party which has clamoured for this all the time. It is entirely his own determination; he decides who he keeps as his service chiefs and for how long.”
The farmers who were working in their rice farms were reportedly tied up and slaughtered in cold blood.
The presidential spokesperson had claimed the farmers had no military clearance to be on the rice farms when the attack happened.
His reaction was greeted by outrage on social media as many Nigerians lambasted him for blaming the dead.
He added, “My suggestion in the earlier news report is that the military had not certified those areas as being free of landmines and terrorists’ intrusions. Whether there are processes for getting licences or commissions, it is not for me, the military is in a better position to describe those processes.”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.