Deji Elumoye in Abuja
The Senate yesterday ruled out the possibility of being influenced to screen and confirm the immediate past service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week forwarded the names of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai (rtd); Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd), to the Senate for confirmation as envoys.
While the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has said that the Senate is in order to confirm the appointment of the new service chiefs, it, however, described as abnormal the request of the president for the confirmation of the erstwhile service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.
By Deji Elumoye
As the National Assembly resumes plenary on Tuesday after a long Christmas break, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has asked the Senate not to confirm the nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari of the erstwhile service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.
The nominees, whose names were sent to the upper legislative chamber last week for confirmation are: Gen Abayomi Olonisakin (rtd), Lt. Gen. Tukur Y. Buratai (rtd), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd), and Air Vice Marshal Mohammed S. Usman (rtd).
Frank, in a statement on Sunday, said the Senate if it considers the nominees would be going against its many resolutions in the past including vote of no confidence on the former army chiefs over incompetence.