A motion seeking reconstitution of the membership of the National Defence Council (NDC) and the National Security Council (NSC) suffered setback in the Senate on Tuesday.

The motion, moved by Victor Umeh (APGA-Anambra Central) at plenary, had also wanted the Senate to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a military officer from the South East as a Service Chief.

According to Mr Umeh, in doing so, it will pave way for equitable representation of the people of the South East in both councils.

Ruling on the motion, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, noted and kept it in view after the lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on the matter.

Membership of the National Defence Council comprises the President; Vice President; Minister of Defence; the Chiefs of Defence, Army Staff, Naval and Air Staff, and other members as the president may appoint.

It is empowered to advise the president on matters relating to the defence of the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Members of the National Security Council, on the other hand, comprise the President, Vice President, Chief of Defence Staff and the Ministers of Interior, Defence and Foreign Affairs.

Others are the National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police, and “other persons as the President may in his discretion appoint”.

Like the NDC, the NSC is also an advisory body, but on matters of public security.

While moving the motion earlier, Mr Umeh said there was no south easterner in the current membership of the NDC and NSC.

This, according to him, violates the Federal Character Principle as enshrined in Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

He said none of the service chiefs appointed to the National Defence Council and the National Security Council was from the South-East of Nigeria.

“The exclusion of the South East from the appointment of the Service Chiefs will continue to cause a feeling of alienation, neglect and consequential agitation among the people of the South East,” he said.

Mr Umeh said that inclusion of an officer from the region among the Service Chiefs would automatically make them members of the NDC and NSC.

According to him, this will go a long way in assuaging the “feelings of isolation and neglect” among the people of the South East.

The senator noted that there was “an array of qualified military officers” from the region capable of serving as heads of the various branches of the military.

He mentioned Rochas Nicholas, a major general from Imo, who is the current Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, the Army unit leading the fight against insurgency in the North East.

Supporting the motion, Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia South) said besides the constitution provisions cited by Mr Umeh, Section 5 (1)(a) and (b) compelled the President to abide by the Constitution.

In other words, Mr Abaribe said the president was constitutionally bound to respect the Federal Character Principle in his appointments.

He alleged that what had been happening was a deliberate misinterpretation of the Constitution to marginalise some parts of the country.

But some All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, including Bala Na’Allah (Kebbi South) and Barau Jibrin (Kano North) opposed the motion.

They dismissed the positions of Messrs Umeh and Abaribe as a gross misunderstanding of the provisions of the Constitution.

Besides, Mr Na’Allah said it was wrong for Umeh to raise the motion since he was part of the Senate that found it expedient to confirm the appointments of the Service Chiefs at that time.

He said the Federal Character Principle was reflected in the recruitment of personnel into the three arms of the military.

Mr Na’Allah warned that security issues should not be politicised, but rather be debated based on the spirit and the latter of the law.

He noted that approving the motion would amount to self-indictment by Senate having earlier confirmed the appointment of the service chiefs.

On his part, Mr Jibrin said it was not true that there was no south easterner in the National Security Council as asserted by Mr Umeh.

He said that Mr Umeh deliberately omitted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyema, a south easterner who is a member of the NSC, in an attempt to mislead the Senate.

He, therefore, called on Mr Umeh to apologise for misinforming the Senate.

Addressing Senate correspondents later, Mr Umeh said by the motion he had succeeded in drawing the nation’s attention to the “lopsidedness” in the membership composition of the NDC and NSC.

In this regard, he said the motion should not be seen as having failed.

(NAN)

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/292137-motion-seeking-appointment-of-ibo-as-service-chief-suffers-setback-in-senate.html

Who cares about the Appointment Of Igbo man As service chief. buhari should appoint more of his Fulani brothers.
Buhari must go he have divided Nigeria along Ethnic and religious. Buhari is the worst Nigeria president in history

I dont see big deal adding more. Its not like any of the current members are going to be kicked out. Its at the president's discretion if he wants to appoint annother person though.

He said that Mr Umeh deliberately omitted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyema, a south easterner who is a member of the NSC, in an attempt to mislead the Senate. He, therefore, called on Mr Umeh to apologise for misinforming the Senate.

Lol dont hold your breath waiting for an apology.

Those two yeebos senators are dumb, were they sleeping when the service chiefs were confirmed.
And the Nigerian military has just 3 arms,with a Chief of defense staff, so it's not possible for all the six geopolitical regions to be represented, there was a time the south west was not represented during the tenure of GEJ.
So make the chest beaters go chill.

Mazi Nnamdi KANU must hear this.

AbuMaryam1:
Mazi Nnamdi KANU must hear this.

Shut Up kid
You can't deviate from the fact that a sadistic Nepotic and unrepentant cow is in power..

This country has never been this divided under any president ever...

The onus is on us all to make sure the cow goes back to daura... He has nothing doing in the nation's seat of power...

The motion, moved by Victor Umeh (APGA-Anambra Central) at plenary, had also wanted the Senate to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a military officer from the South East as a Service Chief.

How many Service Chief positions are available? Just 4.

How many geopolitical regions exist in Nigeria? 6.

How many tribes exist in Nigeria? Over 100.

Sen. Victor Umeh, while fighting for his own tribe and region, should have told us which region currently occupying a Service Chief role out of the 4 available (2 to the North and 2 to the South), should be dropped in favour of the almighty Igbo?


Maybe Buhari should drop the SouthSouth Naval Service chief for their greedy Igbo neighbours?

The senator noted that there was “an array of qualified military officers” from the region capable of serving as heads of the various branches of the military.

He mentioned Rochas Nicholas, a major general from Imo, who is the current Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, the Army unit leading the fight against insurgency in the North East.

Supporting the motion, Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia South) said besides the constitution provisions cited by Mr Umeh, Section 5 (1)(a) and (b) compelled the President to abide by the Constitution.

Imagine this Senator even has the names of Igbos who he hopes would replace the Chief of Army Staff?

By this singular mention, he has killed the career of a political soldier.

So the North East too, upon losing Buratai, would then raise their own motion that they are not included in a slot of only 4 positions that all regions and tribes cannot occupy simultaneously?

What manner of senatorial buffoonery is this?

Na so that Eyinnaya Abaribe just lose his N300m bond to hunchback Kanu's megalomania?

Mr Umeh said there was no south easterner in the current membership of the NDC and NSC. This, according to him, violates the Federal Character Principle as enshrined in Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Mr Na’Allah said it was wrong for Umeh to raise the motion since he was part of the Senate that found it expedient to confirm the appointments of the Service Chiefs at that time. He said the Federal Character Principle was reflected in the recruitment of personnel into the three arms of the military.

The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.

Section 14 (3)

Who's right?

Any EASTERNER demanding for this kind of thing now is an enemy of the PDP.. All these years, na now u wan motion.. No be only motion, na emotion

zombieTRACKER:


Shut Up kid
You can't deviate from the fact that a sadistic Nepotic and unrepentant cow is in power..

This country has never been this divided under any president ever...

The onus is on us all to make sure the cow goes back to daura... He has nothing doing in the nation's seat of power...

Confused entity. Ayam not ur match.

AbuMaryam1:


Confused entity. Ayam not ur match.

Go back to your codeine diet jare

don't worry. when you eventually get beerfraud country, namdi kanu will appoint as many service chiefs as you want. confused tribe

Hehe

What Igbos want is total freedom.

Hmmmm

Buhari is the worst President in the history of Nigeria

Check out my signature. We go dey alright.

Nwoke ogologo opu try for dis one.

Throwback:



How many Service Chief positions are available? Just 4.

How many geopolitical regions exist in Nigeria? 6.

How many tribes exist in Nigeria? Over 100.

Sen. Victor Umeh, while fighting for his own tribe and region, should have told us which region currently occupying a Service Chief role out of the 4 available (2 to the North and 2 to the South), should be dropped in favour of the almighty Igbo?


Maybe Buhari should drop the SouthSouth Naval Service chief for their greedy Igbo neighbours?





Imagine this Senator even has the names of Igbos who he hopes would replace the Chief of Army Staff?

By this singular mention, he has killed the career of a political soldier.

So the North East too, upon losing Buratai, would then raise their own motion that they are not included in a slot of only 4 positions that all regions and tribes cannot occupy simultaneously?

What manner of senatorial buffoonery is this?

Na so that Eyinnaya Abaribe just lose his N300m bond to hunchback Kanu's megalomania?

Would have been better if you'd gotten yourself informed,rather than this your public display of ignorance.
Of the 4 service chiefs,2 are from the Northeast.
The Ministers of Defense and Interior are both from the Northwest.The CDS and VP from the Southwest,while only the CNS from the 'South-south'.Leaving the Southeast and North-central from the equation. Senators of the middlebelt extraction may be cool with their lot,those of the Southeast are not.

Throwback:



How many Service Chief positions are available? Just 4.

How many geopolitical regions exist in Nigeria? 6.

How many tribes exist in Nigeria? Over 100.

Sen. Victor Umeh, while fighting for his own tribe and region, should have told us which region currently occupying a Service Chief role out of the 4 available (2 to the North and 2 to the South), should be dropped in favour of the almighty Igbo?


Maybe Buhari should drop the SouthSouth Naval Service chief for their greedy Igbo neighbours?





Imagine this Senator even has the names of Igbos who he hopes would replace the Chief of Army Staff?

By this singular mention, he has killed the career of a political soldier.

So the North East too, upon losing Buratai, would then raise their own motion that they are not included in a slot of only 4 positions that all regions and tribes cannot occupy simultaneously?

What manner of senatorial buffoonery is this?

Na so that Eyinnaya Abaribe just lose his N300m bond to hunchback Kanu's megalomania?

Since I began to notice your post in nairaland, it's always filled with hatred, bigotry and extreme bitterness against the Igbos! Do you have a life apart from this? God forbid bad thing

The British government made a great error in the 20th Century in Nigeria. The fundamental way they can right that wrong is for them to, by whatever means necessary, engender the dissolution of
their criminality called Nigeria- whether
by violence or through referendum.

Make no mistake- Nigeria will be dissolved- whether via implosion or
external forces. It is inevitable.

Throwback:



How many Service Chief positions are available? Just 4.

How many geopolitical regions exist in Nigeria? 6.

How many tribes exist in Nigeria? Over 100.

Sen. Victor Umeh, while fighting for his own tribe and region, should have told us which region currently occupying a Service Chief role out of the 4 available (2 to the North and 2 to the South), should be dropped in favour of the almighty Igbo?


Maybe Buhari should drop the SouthSouth Naval Service chief for their greedy Igbo neighbours?





Imagine this Senator even has the names of Igbos who he hopes would replace the Chief of Army Staff?

By this singular mention, he has killed the career of a political soldier.

So the North East too, upon losing Buratai, would then raise their own motion that they are not included in a slot of only 4 positions that all regions and tribes cannot occupy simultaneously?

What manner of senatorial buffoonery is this?

Na so that Eyinnaya Abaribe just lose his N300m bond to hunchback Kanu's megalomania?

I have never seen a tribe that love to self harm as much as the Igbo.

Is it a crime to be an intelligent hard working Igbo man?

They did this to this man earlier (Maj Gen Nicholas) when they almost killed his career after a core Northener paid glowing tributes straight from the heart thanking him for doing what other commanders from the North failed to do. This was a man never heralded by his people who usually spit at our Atrmed Forces.

However once he was recognized by the Gov Shetimma, as a brilliant and courageous officer, the next move by his people was to denigrate all officers of Northern extraction as weaklings and canvas that Boko Haram can only be defeated if we beg and recruit the whole of Umuahia into the Army. Immediately after these sentiments were made public, within a few days we heard of disharmony in the Army and moves to replace Maj Gen Nicholas.

How he has survived this long is only by the grace of God.

But now his career has finally been brought to an end by a so called elder who was once the chairman of their national party.

I ask again, is it a crime to be an intelligent hard working Igbo man?

With brethren like this no one needs enemies. Even the biblical Joseph's brothers are not as bad as these people.