Buhari Nominates Ex-Service Chiefs As Non-Career Ambassadors

Buhari Nominates Ex-Service Chiefs 

(50 REPORT NEWS)-- President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded the names of the immediate past service chiefs and the Chief of Defence Intelligence to the Senate as non-career Ambassadors-Designate.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
In a letter to Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, the President said, “In accordance with Section 171 (1), (2) (c) & Sub-Section (4) of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, I have the honour to forward for confirmation by the Senate, the under-listed five names of nominees as Non-Career Ambassadors-Designate.”

According to the statement, “The nominees are: Gen Abayomi G. Olonisakin (rtd ), Lt-Gen Tukur Y. Buratai (rtd), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd), and Air Vice Marshal Mohammed S. Usman (rtd).
“The President urged the Senate to give expeditious consideration to the nominations.”
It would be recalled that Buhari had on January 26, 2020, accepted the resignation of the former service chiefs and nominated new ones to take over.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of trying to shield ex-service chiefs from being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The PDP was reacting to the nomination of ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd) as non-career ambassadors-designate.
Buhari had forwarded the names of the immediate past service chiefs to the Senate as non-career ambassadors-designate.

The nomination of Buratai and other ex-service chiefs as non-career ambassadors has been met with criticism from Nigerians.
However, the opposition party urged the Senate to reject the nomination forwarded by Buhari.
A statement by PDP on its Twitter handle, yesterday, lamented that the Buhari-led administration was trying to use ambassadorial immunity to shield Buratai from ICC’s investigation.

The tweet reads: “@OfficialPDPNig firmly rejects plots by the @MBuhari Presidency and the @OfficialAPCNg to use the decoy of ambassadorial appointments to shield the immediate past service chiefs from investigation over alleged killing of innocent Nigerians and crimes against humanity under their inglorious watch.

“The @OfficialPDPNig charges the Senate to eschew all partisan considerations and stand on the side of the people, particularly the victims of the atrocious regime of the ex-service chiefs by outrightly rejecting the demand by President @MBuhari to confirm them as ambassadors.

“It is indeed sacrilegious and a horrible assault on the sensibility of Nigerians that the @OfficialAPCNg government is seeking to use ambassadorial appointments as desperate measure to secure diplomatic immunity for the former commanders and protect them from investigation, arrest and possible prosecution by the @IntlCrimCourt for the atrocities committed against innocent Nigerians under their command.

“The @OfficialPDPNig asserts that appointing the former service chiefs as ambassadors would confer diplomatic immunity on them and provide them a route for escape.”
PDP also noted that nominating Buratai at a time ICC declared its readiness to probe his alleged “involvement in the crime against humanity in our country, appears to further validate the allegations against them.”

 By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja