The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd), has dismissed speculation in some quarters that Thursday’s meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) discussed the fate of the country’s Service Chiefs.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday presided over the 2020 maiden meeting of the National Security Council with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and the security chiefs in attendance.
The meeting came amidst calls in some quarters for the removal of the service chiefs due to the ongoing security challenges in some parts of the country.
The House of Representatives had on Wednesday called on the service chiefs to either resign or be sacked in view of their inability to proffer solutions to the nation’s security challenges.
Monguno, however, told State House correspondents at the end of the security meeting that the council, which is the highest security body in the country chaired by the President, did not discuss the issue of the service chiefs.
“The issue of the National Assembly resolution did not come up at the meeting,’’ he said.
The NSA said the quarterly meeting focused on appraisal of the security situation across the country with a view to finding lasting solutions to the problem.
He said: “The meeting basically made an appraisal of the current security situation in the country and took a look at the possibilities, the opportunities available to government in addressing most of the recent challenges.
“There were discussions and at the end of the day, the most important thing that we came up with is the need for collaboration, both between governmental agencies and the larger Nigerian society because of the type of the insurgencies we are faced with, the complexities, the multiplicity of all kinds of issues.
“There is a need for both parties, governmental agencies on one hand and the larger society to collaborate more vigorously. There is a need for us to deal with these problems in a comprehensive manner.
“Therefore, council has decided to take a closer look at issues that will help us not just at the federal level or at the state level, but right down to the local government level.
“But this is going to be done after due consultations with the relevant stakeholders,’’ the NSA said.
