Reps Call President to Federal Character for Service Chiefs Appointment

The house of Representatives has revealed the plans to make it mandatory for the President to comply with the Federal Character principle when appointing service chiefs.

The proposal is contained in the Armed Forces Act Amendment Bill 2019, which passed the first reading on November 5, 2019.

According to the lawmaker representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, who sponsored the bill, he noted that the appointment of the current service chiefs was lopsided.

Abiante added that the lopsided appointment was causing disaffection in parts of the country.

He said, “We noticed that for some time now, Nigerians have complained and called to question the seeming lopsided appointment of the service chiefs. Since what is happening now is happening within the ambit of the law, nobody can really do so much beyond calling to question.

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“So, what this amendment seeks to do is to ensure that even in the appointment of service chiefs, federal character should be considered, in respect to the geopolitical zones. If you spread the services, we should be able to accommodate all the geopolitical zones. It is a very simple amendment.

“Federal Character should not only apply when recruiting for the lower ranks or ministries, departments and agencies, it should also apply to the appointment of service chiefs.”