The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of the newly-appointed service chiefs as forwarded to them by President Muhammadu Buhari.
They include: Major-General Abayomi Olonishakin, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff.
Their confirmation came after about five hours of screening by the Senate Committee of the Whole.
Recall that Senate President, Bukola Saraki had last week read President Buhari’s letter seeking the confirmation of the upper chamber for the appointment of new Service Chiefs.
This, the President explained, was in accordance with the provisions of Section18 (1) of the Armed Forces Act, 2004.
Screening of the nominees earlier scheduled for Thursday last week was postponed due to the pulling out parade programme in honour of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh.
Speaking after the confirmation, Saraki tasked the Service Chiefs to tackle oil theft as well as stamp out corruption in the Armed Forces in the area of arms procurement.
“It is very important also as we emphasised to them on the issue of procurement procedure in the Armed Forces. It is an area that they must work hard to root out corruption in this process. We must leave behind those days where basic equipment and all these issues that we believe should be available for our men and women out there should be made available.
“Their appointment is coming at a very crucial time with a lot challenges, particularly the insurgents in the North East and some of the other security issues. For example, the issue of oil theft that we talked about when they came before us,” he said.
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