THE Senate will today (Wednesday) subject the newly appointed service chiefs to screening and possible confirmation as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu intensifies efforts to overhaul Nigeria’s security structure and restore public confidence in the Armed Forces.
News Point Nigeria reports that the request for the screening was contained in a letter transmitted to the Senate and read during Tuesday’s plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. In the letter, the President appealed for “expeditious consideration,” citing the urgency of strengthening security coordination nationwide.
The nominees up for legislative approval include:
General Olufemi Oluyede – Chief of Defence Staff
Major General Waidi Shaibu – Chief of Army Staff
Rear Admiral Idi Abbas – Chief of Naval Staff
Air Vice Marshal Kennedy Aneke – Chief of Air Staff
Major General Emmanuel Undiendeye – Chief of Defence Intelligence
Akpabio thereafter referred the matter to the Committee of the Whole, paving the way for today’s screening inside the National Assembly complex.
The confirmation process comes just days after Tinubu held his first closed-door strategy session with the new military leadership at the Presidential Villa, a meeting widely interpreted as a precursor to major operational changes across the security sector.
According to the Presidency, the sweeping shake-up, which saw the retirement of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and other top commanders was a “strategic step to reinforce professionalism, efficiency, and national cohesion in the Armed Forces.”
Tinubu, while thanking the outgoing chiefs for what he described as “patriotic sacrifices,” tasked the new appointees to justify the trust placed in them by delivering tangible results in the fight against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and oil theft.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed service chiefs on Tuesday paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters (Ship House), Abuja — their first official engagement since assuming office.
The latest reshuffle follows persistent speculation surrounding an alleged failed coup plot — a report linked by Sahara Reporters to the detention of 16 senior officers and the cancellation of the Independence Day parade on October 1.
Although the Defence Headquarters strongly dismissed the claims as “false, reckless, and malicious,” concerns remain in some quarters over the abrupt timing and breadth of the leadership changes.
The opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) has urged the Federal Government to provide greater transparency on both the alleged coup scare and the rationale behind the rapid restructuring of the military hierarchy.