THE Senate is set to screen the newly appointed service chiefs nominated by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.
In a letter read by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during Tuesday’s plenary, Tinubu urged lawmakers to grant “expeditious consideration” to the nominees.
The President appointed Olufemi Oluyede, a general, as Chief of Defence Staff; Waheedi Shaibu, a major general, as Chief of Army Staff.
He also named Idi Abbas, a rear admiral as Chief of Naval Staff; Kennedy Aneke, an air vice marshal, as Chief of Air Staff; and Emmanuel Undiendeye, a major general, as Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Akpabio referred the president’s request to the committee of the Whole for screening and confirmation, slated for Wednesday.
The development comes just 48 hours after Tinubu held a closed-door meeting with the new service chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, which marked his first formal interaction with the military leadership since last Friday’s major reshuffle.
The ICIR reported that the president sacked Nigeria’s service chiefs and replaced them in a major shake-up of the nation’s security hierarchy on October 24.
Tinubu said the shake-up was “in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government to strengthen the national security architecture.”
He urged the new appointees to justify the trust placed in them by upholding professionalism, vigilance, and unity within the Armed Forces.
The administration expressed confidence that, once confirmed, the new appointments would strengthen inter-agency collaboration and enhance the fight against insurgency, banditry, and other security threats across the country.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.