By Haruna Salami
The Senate, at its plenary on Wednesday screened and confirmed the Service Chiefs recently appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
Those confirmed include Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Defence Staff, Major General W. Shuaibu, Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral I. Abbas, Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal S. K. Aneke, Chief of Air Staff.
The confirmation followed a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, (Ekiti Central) urging his colleagues to consider the request of the President’s nominees for appointment as Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs respectively in accordance with Section 18 (1) of the Armed Forces Act.
The Senate dissolved into a Committee of the Whole for the screening and confirmation of the appointments.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio asked the Chief of Defence Staff designate, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede to give a brief remarks before he takes a bow since he was screened as Chief of Army Staff before.
The red chamber then went into a close session where the nominees were asked detailed questions on their plans to end security challenges facing the country.
The Chief of Defence Staff, who was the immediate Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Defence Staff said “it is important for us to know that for Nigeria to move forward, it’s imperative that we develop our own local military-industrial complex.
He said the country can’t keep on buying equipment from outside because these things are extremely expensive, adding it is the best interest of the country to develop its own capacity to produce the required equipment to prosecute wars and challenges facing all of us.
He said it is important for us as a country to checkmate the kind of misinformation that is out there, because if this is not terminated and on time, “I think our challenges will far from be over”, adding that he has made it a point of duty to improve the welfare and well-being of his soldiers and their families”.
The Chief of Army Staff, Major General W. Shuaibu said “We will leverage on technology to improve our night fighting capability, effective training of special forces to improve our instruction and strike capabilities across all terrains both day and night and we intend to dominate all fronts ranging from mountain ranges and all land terrains in across our country with effectively training of additional special forces and special operation forces.
He pledged to prioritize the welfare of the members of the Armed forces.
Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East) in his remarks thanked President Bola Tinubu for appointing General W. Shuaibu as the Chief of Army Staff.
He said the officer is very well known to him for over 30 years. “He is from a very humble background and he has taken this job as a do or die affair. In the course of his career, he has been able to attend various professional courses and has held key positions in the Nigerian Army preparatory to this milestone achievement.
Senator Jibrin described the Army Chief as an asset to the military, adding that given this elevated position he will be able to do a lot to take Nigeria out of the security challenges that we are facing today”, urging him to work harmoniously with the chief of defense staff and the other service chiefs to ensure that the lingering problems of security challenges in Nigeria is addressed once and for all.
Akpabio described Senator Jibrin’s remarks “as a testimonial or an attestation”.
After close door session, the Senate return to plenary to confirm the nominees. Akpabio started with the Chief of Defence Staff and put it to voice vote which received a resounding “aye”.
The same procedure was followed for the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff.