House of reps to screen service chiefs on Monday

The house of representatives will screen the recently appointed service chiefs on Monday.

The service chiefs — chief of defence staff, Christopher Musa; chief of army staff, Taoreed Lagbaja; chief of naval staff; Emmanuel Ogalla, and chief of air staff, Hassan Abubakar — will be screened by the principal officers of the green chamber.

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

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

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

However, speaker of the house, Tajudeen Abbas, announced the principal officers to screen the service chiefs because the house is yet to constitute the various standing committees.

President Bola Tinubu had, in a letter last week, asked the lawmakers to confirm the appointment of the service chiefs.

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”.

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“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.

The senate confirmed the appointment of the service chiefs on Thursday.