House of reps principal officers to screen service chiefs

The house of representatives has set up a committee to screen the recently appointed service chiefs.

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, during the plenary session on Tuesday, said the service chiefs will be screened by a panel constituting all principal officers in the lower legislative chamber.

The principal officers include Julius Ihonvbere, majority leader; Abdullahi Halims, deputy majority leader; Bello Kumo, chief whip; Adewunmi Onanuga, deputy chief whip; Kingsley Chinda, minority leader; Ali Madaki, deputy minority leader, Ali Isa, minority whip; and George Ebizimawo, deputy minority whip.

The committee is to be chaired by Babajimi Benson, a lawmaker from Lagos and former chairman of the defence committee.

Usually, service chiefs are screened by the house of representatives joint committees on defence, army, navy and airforce.

TheCable understands that Abbas picked the principal officers to screen the service chiefs because the house is yet to constitute the various standing committees.

Last Thursday, Abbas read a letter from President Bola Tinub, seeking the confirmation of the appointment of the service chiefs. 

The service chiefs appointed by Tinubu are Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff; Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff; Emmanuel Ogalla, chief of naval staff; and Hassan Abubakar, chief of air staff.

In the letter, Tinubu said the current security situation in the country requires concerted efforts of both the legislature and the executive “to ensure a well-protected nation”.

“This informed the review of our defence architecture and appointment of new leaders to work in synergy with one another to achieve the level of optimal performance expected of the military,” the president had said.