The second republic lawmaker, Dr Muhammad Junaid has called on members of the National Assembly, NASS to pass a law to stop the nepotism and disrespect for public opinion of Nigerians following President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of the former service chiefs for ambassadorial appointments.
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Dr Junaid made the call in an interview with VANGUARD, Not TheNigerialawyer on Thursday.
The former lawmaker said the law should make it mandatory that any service chief or uniform personnel upon completion of service should stay seven years for any appointment into political office.
Dr Junaid said the country should take a leaf from the United States of America where the law is in operation.
According to him, “the President has the prerogative to appoint anybody as an ambassador. But the National Assembly can help the country by passing a law stipulating that you must spend a certain number of years after active service before taking up any appointment into top government positions. For example, in America, if a General or whatever he is rank finishes his service, he would not be appointed into a top political post until he has done seven years after service.
And that is what happened lately with General Mattis who was Trump’s Defence Minister and just right now, the man who was cleared this week, General Lloyd Austin.
So, in the two cases, the Presidents (Trump and now Biden) who appointed them had to ask for a special dispensation and a waiver from the Congress before they are deemed for the appointment. And they were granted the waivers. Mattis served under Trump and Lloyd Austin has just taken over under Biden administration.
“I think to avoid this kind of mediocrity by Buhari and his government. It is better for the NASS to establish a marker that if you have been a Service Chief or Senior General or whatever, you cannot be appointed into a civilian office until you have spent a certain number of years out of service.
“So Nigeria should take a leaf from American because it will avoid this kind of nonsense. People using their friends or relations or in-laws to give them to evolving door, once they are out of uniform they immediately get into a top political assignment which confirms the nepotism of Buhari in the history of this country.
“So it is important for the NASS to now step in and establish either a resolution or a law.
“In the case of Nigeria too, when the civil war started, there were some senior generals who were senior to Gowon himself who was head of state. So they were sent outside the country. Some of them include Brigadier General Ogundipe, George (Moscow), and in the other years some Generals like Conolel Sani Bello (Zimbabwe), and others like Major General Zamani Lewkot (Senegal).
“But in the case of Buhari, it was a clear nepotism and disrespect for public opinion and insult to the people of Nigeria because no law or waiver from the NASS or nothing to say that this person has nowhere to go or too junior to be retired but he is just doing it for his own greed and selfish interest,” Dr Junaid.
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