News: President Jonathan Sacks Service Chiefs, Appoints New Ones

President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked Nigeria’s service chiefs and appointed new ones.
Announcing the sack, presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, in a statement said: “President Jonathan has appointed new Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs. Air Marshal Alex Badeh now Chief of Defence Staff.”

Mr. Abati said the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh, has been appointed the Chief of Defence Staff. He replaces Admiral Ola Ibrahim.
Major-General Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah takes over from Lt.-General Azubike O. Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin takes over from Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba as Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu takes over from Air Marshal Badeh as Chief of Air Staff.
The new Chief of Defence Staff and former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Badeh was born on January 10, 1957 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s  21 Regular Course while the new Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Minimah was born on July 27, 1959 and joined the Army as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s  25 Regular Course.
Until his new appointment, Major-General Minimah was the Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps, Jaji.
The new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin was born on September 16, 1959 and joined the Navy as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 24 Regular Course. Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, he was Director of Training at Defence Headquarters.
The new Chief of Air Staff and immediate past Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet, Air Vice Marshal Amosu was born on August 1, 1958 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 25 Regular Course.
Until his new appointment, Air Vice Marshal Amosu was the Air Officer Commanding, Tactical Air Command, Makurdi.

The Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati added that “President Jonathan has briefed the leadership of the National Assembly on the appointment of the new service chiefs and will, in keeping with the provisions of the law, request the National Assembly to formally confirm the appointments when it reconvenes.”
Although no reason was given for the sack, their inability to curtail the deadly activities of the extremist Boko Haram sect had been speculated to be one of the reason.
The extremist Boko Haram sect had in the recent past carried out deadly attacks some of which were targeted at military facilities in Borno state.
During one of their attacks at a a Airforce Base in Maiduguri, the insurgent group incapacitated military aircraft, destroyed other facilities, leaving scores of civilians and soldiers dead.
There is also the issues of a court order which in July 2013 declared the appointment of the nation’s service chiefs illegal.

The judgement delivered by Justice A. Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja declared that the appointments of Service Chiefs (The Chief of Air Staff, the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff) without the approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives is null and void in line with Section 18(1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The case was instituted by a Lagos-based lawyer and activist, Festus Keyamo .
Keyamo had last week threatened to sue President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, should they fail to comply with a court judgement which in July 2013 declared the appointment of the nation’s service chiefs illegal.
The lawyer made the threat in a letter he wrote to Nigeria’s president, the Senate president and the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives
He emphasized that the appointment of the service chiefs should be done in line with the rule of law which requires the confirmation of the National Assembly, adding that the armed forces must be subjected to civil authority.