Insecurity: Northern Group Sets To Sue Buhari To Court Over Service Chiefs Tenure

The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has said that Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari lacked the competence and commitment to lead Nigeria into a secure and prosperous future.

The coalition group stated this while revealing its plan to drag the president to court over the continued retention of the nation’s service chiefs, who according to them have overstayed the positions and with poor performances.

Naija News understands that there have been calls to the Nigeria president to sack his service chiefs for their inability to protect the lives of citizens, but a spokesman for the President, Garba Shehu, had consistently argued that only Buhari could hire and fire the service chiefs.

President Buhari had in 2015 after winning the presidential seat ahead of the former leader, Goodluck Jonathan, appointed General Gabriel Olonishakin as Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff and Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff, Naija News recalls.

However, patriotic citizens, including the CNG had for a while challenged the president to sack his service chiefs over the spate of insecurity in the country, and for the fact that they have overstayed the positions.

According to the coalition group, the security situation in the Northern region of the country had worsened under the service chiefs, hence the need for the court to compel Buhari to remove them (service chiefs).

The CNG argued that there were laws guiding the appointments of the service chiefs, which must be followed to evolve the system. Speaking with newsmen in Kaduna on the court move, CNG’s spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, stated that “The CNG is going to court because we believe it is now no longer a question of performance, but one of legality on whether the service chiefs, who have overstayed their years of service should not be compelled to comply with the laws guiding the prevailing scheme of service in the country.

“We would seek interpretation from the courts on the applicability of the law that says if a public servant attains 60 years of age, he must retire, or if he covers 35-years in service, he should go.”

He added that: “On moral grounds, CNG regrets that by any standard of judgement, President Muhammadu Buhari and his security chiefs as constituted today have failed the nation in the vital area of improving its security.

“We at the CNG have been consistent with our warnings that President Buhari lacked the will, his overstayed service chiefs lack the capacity, competence and commitment to lead Nigeria into a secure and prosperous future.

“It is shocking that in spite of unprecedented consensus among Nigerians that the administration requires a new resolve, approach and leadership in the fight against the nation’s multiple security challenges, President Buhari appears either totally isolated or in deep denial over the result of his service chiefs’ failures to secure Nigerians.”

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack in the Niger Republic that resulted in the killing of 70 persons.

The President expressed shock over the killing that happened in Zaroumdareye, a border town between the Niger Republic and Mali, using the opportunity to call for stronger security ties among African countries, Naija News reports.