The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Service Chiefs recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Service Chiefs, who were confirmed after a four-and-half hour screening, were urged to tackle the problem of insecurity and oil theft, among others.
Buhari approved the appointment of new service chiefs for the nation’s armed forces on July 13.
They are Maj.-Gen. Abayomi Olonishakin as Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai as Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice-Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.
In his remarks, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who presided over plenary, said he had no doubt that the service chiefs would deliver on their mandate.
He urged them to root out corruption in the procurement procedure of the armed forces, adding that the prevalence of corruption in the system affected effective delivery over the years.
Saraki said “the appointments, as we all see, is coming at a very crucial time with a lot of challenges, particularly insurgency in the North East and some other security issues such as oil theft and others.
“We need to observe also that they were all born in the 60s, so there are lots of responsibilities as new generation officers to provide new direction and new leadership to our armed forces.
“We are all keen to restore the image and reputation of the armed forces and I believe that their confirmation is the beginning of their journey to restore the glory of the force in our great nation.”
Saraki called on the service chiefs to preserve the confidence reposed in them by carrying out their responsibilities effectively.
