PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is said to be planning to replace Nigeria's military service chiefs son as part of the ongoing building of his administration that has seen him make several key appointments already.
Yesterday, President Buhari appointed Femi Adesina, the president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors and Mallam Garba Shehu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council spokesman as his two media assistants. Mr Adesina will serve as the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, while Mallam Shehu will be the new senior special assistant on media and publicity.
Both men take over the roles held by Dr Rueben Abati and Doyin Okupe in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Also, President Buhari has named Mallam Lawal Kazaure as the state chief of protocol, with Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the former Abia State governor due to take over as the secretary for the federal government.
A desire by President Buhari to ensure zonal balancing is delaying a formal announcement of all his appointees. Some APC party leaders impressed it on the president to be mindful of the constitutional provision which stipulates respect for federal character even in his choice of personal staff.
It is believed that the president is also set to appoint a former chief of army staff Lt General Abdurrahman Dambazau as his national security adviser. General Dambazau was chief of army staff when President Umaru Yar'Adua was in office and is famed for his notorious smuggling of the former president's corpse into the country in the middle of the night without informing the rest of the cabinet.
President Buhari is also said to be set to retire the service chiefs but retain the new inspector general of police Solomon Arase who was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan just a few weeks ago. Service chiefs to be affected in the purge of the high military command include chief of defence staff Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, chief of army staff, Lt General Kenneth Minimah, chief of air staff Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu and chief of naval staff Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin.
One source close to the presidency said: “All the service chiefs are going, in fact, they are gone and are only waiting for the president to announce their sack. Even most of them have packed out their personal effects from their offices."
Certain APC officials have warned President Buhari to be careful about his appointments from the north west, as it may present him as being biased. This is believed to be part of the reason why Mr Arase, 59, from Edo State who enlisted in the police in 1981 and is due to retire next year, has been retained.
