Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State on Sunday said some of the current Service Chiefs are desirous of retiring but have refused to do because President Muhammadu Buhari who appointed them have refused to give them directives.
Speaking on Channels Television programme ‘Sunday Politics’, Fayemi, who advocated for the renewal of leadership in the top military echelon said that “the morale of those who should have been in the leadership positions in our security architecture is at the lowest ebb because our service chiefs are still holding sway.”
Fayemi, who said the governors will inform the President about the feelings of Nigerians on the insecurity crisis in the country, said if he was the President, he would have asked the current Service Chiefs to suggest the best of hands to succeed them and after that has been done, the service chiefs can be eased out.
“If I’m in that position, my approach would have been different. I think the Service Chiefs have served the country well. They have been committed. I know them personally and I know how well they are committed to ensuring that we get rid of this insurgency.
“But the point is, if you have done something, the same thing for five years and you have even gone beyond your retirement age. Of course, you can argue that for Service Chiefs, there is no really a retirement age. But the military has protocols and processes and from time to time, one of the really important considerations is the renewal of the leadership.
“My approach will be for Mr. President to ask them in their role as Service Chiefs who understand this military know their men very well to even be the one that will suggest some of the best men that will step into their shoes. It is not about sacking them; it is about transitioning them out of their current responsibilities into retirement”.
“I am sure and a part of me even feels that there may be some of them that will rather exit now but they wouldn’t want to be seen as jumping the ship if they have not been directed to do so by Mr. President. But I am not the president of Nigeria.
“The president of Nigeria is well within his right to determine how he wants to address this. Our own as governors and his field commanders in the 36 states is to let him know the feelings of our people about security in the country and that we will do when we have the meeting.”
