Ignore calls for sack of service chiefs, Ndume tells Tinubu

Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno south, has asked President Bola Tinubu to ignore calls for the removal of the service chiefs.

Ndume, a former senate leader, gave the advice in a statement on Thursday.

His comment follows a call by the Northern Ethnic National Forum for the sack of the military chiefs over alleged incompetence.

Dominic Alancha, convener of the forum, had in a statement on Tuesday said the service chiefs lacked the professional capacity to lead the war against insurgency and banditry.

The group alleged that despite huge budgetary allocations to security, the service chiefs had failed to deliver.

Ndume, however, argued that the military needs more funding, training and motivation to perform better.

“Those pushing for sack of the present crop of service chiefs have ulterior motive and they do not mean well for the present administration and Nigerians,” he said.

“I want to restate my call for a proactive TEAM approach — training, equipment, ammunitions and motivation. These combinations would go a long way to counter terrorism, banditry and insurgency.

“It is outlandish and uncharitable for any group of individuals to accuse the present service chiefs of professional incompetence. All of them have the requisite training and experience in theatre operations.

“All they need is adequate ammunitions and motivation.”

The senator criticised the “poor welfare package” for soldiers, noting that a private earns about N100,000 monthly, while their daily allowance is N5,000.

“People should desist from pronouncements that could dampen the morale of our soldiers and officers on the field of operation,” he added.

Ndume also commended the Tinubu administration for what he described as “a sense of ethno-religious balancing” in the composition of the current security architecture.