Breaking: Senate Confirms Appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs

The Senate has confirmed  the appointment of Chief of Defence  Staff  and Service Chiefs appointed  by President  Bola Tinubu.

The top security Chiefs that were confirmed on Thursday  are Major General Christopher G Musa as Chief of Defence Staff; Major General T.A Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla as  Chief Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal H. B. Abubakar as  Chief of Air Staff.

Prior to the  confirmation,  the  Service  Chiefs went into a closed door session  where the  Senators  engaged them from 12.42pm to 2.59pm.

To begin the process, the Service  Chiefs  arrived the National Assembly Complex at about 10.00am  for an appointment that was slated for 11.00am.

They were still outside the Chamber until the President  of the Senate, Godswill  Akpabío acknowledged their presence during the plenary.

After their presence were acknowledged  through a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi, Senate President suspended Order their  Order 60 in the Senate  Standing  Orders 2022 as Ameneed to enable the Chamber attend to them.

Opeyemi said: “That the Senate do consider the request of Mr President and Commander-in -Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the confirmation of the nomination of Service Chiefs.”

At this point, the Senior  Special  Assistant to President  Bola  Tinubu  on National  Assembly  Matters( Senate), Senator  Abdullahi Gumel ushered the Service Chiefs  to the hallowed  chamber.

Thereafter, the visitors to the Senate  were given two minutes each  to introduce themselves before the Chamber dissolved into a Committee of the whole behind closed doors at 12. 42pm.

Recall  that President  Tinubu  had on Tuesday  written  the Senate,  seeking for the screening and subsequent  confirmation  of the new Chief of Defence  Staff  and service chiefs. 

The request was contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate,  Senator  Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio  who read the letter  during Plenary, said that the request was in line with the Act establishing the Armed Forces. 

Recall that President Tinubu had, last month, appointed Major General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Major General bTaoreed Lagbaja as the  chief of Army Staff.

Tinubu also appointed Rear Admiral  Emmanuel Ogalla as the Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar as the Chief of Air Staff and Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye appointed the Chief of Defence Intelligence. 

He urged the Red Chamber to consider his request expeditiously. 

Akpabio, after reading the letter, referred the request to the Committee of the Whole as there was no  Standing Committee on Armed Forces, just as this means that the Service Chiefs would  be screened on the floor of the Senate, not at the Committee level.

After the screening of the Service  Chiefs at the Hallowed  chamber,  the Chief Whip  of the Senate,  Senator  Ali Ndume,  APC, Borno  South, described  as embarrassing a situation  where Senators see off visitors, adding that it should not be repeated.