NATIONAL: Clamour for sack of service chiefs out of place, says Garba Shehu

GARBA Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Buhari has said the president has the prerogative to appoint or sack any of the country’s service chiefs.

Shehu noted that mounting pressure on the president to sack the service chiefs is ‘out of place’ adding that the president keeps the service chiefs as long as he is satisfied with their performance.

The recent killing of 43 rice farmers by Boko Haram terrorists has sparked a fresh and renewed call for the sacking of the country’s service chiefs.

Many prominent Nigerians, including the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, have asked the president to rejig the country’s security architecture.

But reacting to the clamour for the sack of service chiefs the presidential spokesman said, “I am not aware that the tenure of service chiefs is subjected to any law or regulation that is clearly stated. They serve at the pleasure of the president and (if) the president is satisfied with their performance, he keeps them.

The buck stops on his table —with due respect to the feelings of Nigerians.

“The clamour for the sack is out of place considering that the president is not subject to the opinion of opposition political party which has clamoured for this all the time. It is entirely his own determination; he decides who he keeps as his service chiefs and for how long.”