Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has faulted the appointment of the immediate past service chiefs as non-career ambassadors-designate as contained in the nomination letter forwarded to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari for approval.
The Forum also asked the Senate to reject such nominations based on what it termed “odious agenda as their woeful tenure does not merit the queer appointments.”
Buhari on Thursday forwarded the names of the immediate past service chiefs to the Senate as non-career ambassadors-designate.
The president, in a statement issued in by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), informed in a letter to Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, President of the Senate, that he made the appointments “in accordance with Section 171 (1), (2) (c) & sub-section (4) of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”
He, therefore, urged the Senate to give expeditious consideration to the nominations.
However, the SMBLF, in its reaction issued by Mr Yinka Odumakin, said the group appeared not to have a complete understanding of the appointments made by the president at this stage except guessing it may be for the ex-service chiefs to evade International Criminal Court (ICC) trial which some rights groups had been agitating.
“We do not have a complete understanding of these appointments except guessing it may be to evade ICC trial. But whatever it is, there must be an odious agenda as their woeful tenure does not merit the queer appointments,” SMBLF said.
The leaders, while calling on the Senate to reject the nominations, quickly recalled the promise once made by the Senate president that any request brought by President Buhari before the Upper Chamber was good for Nigeria and would, therefore, sail through.
“It should be rejected but we recall the Senate President once promised that anything Buhari brings is good for Nigeria,” SMBLF said.
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