The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee will on Monday screen the recently appointed Service Chiefs.
The Senate had last Thursday confirmed the appointments of Service Chiefs after screening them in a closed session that lasted for more than an hour.
However, the ad-hoc committee headed by the Chairman of the Committee on Defence in the 9th House, Hon. Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos), was constituted last Tuesday.
The Speaker, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, who announced the setting up of the panel at plenary, said all the eight principal officers of the House from the majority and minority parties would be part of the ad-hoc committee.
Consequently, the adhoc panel has scheduled a screening session with the newly appointed Service Chiefs on Monday, July 17, 2023.
The Majority Caucus has Hon. Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo) as Majority Leader; Hon. Abdullahi Halims (APC, Kogi), Deputy Majority Leader; Hon. Bello Kumo (APC, Gombe), Chief Whip; and Hon. Adewunmi Onanuga (APC, Ogun) as Deputy Chief Whip.
The Minority Caucus has Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) as Minority Leader; Hon. Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Kano), Deputy Minority Leader; Hon. Ali Isa (PDP, Gombe), Minority Whip; and Hon. George Ozodinobi (LP, Anambra) as Deputy Minority Whip.
The appointees billed for screening by the committee are Maj-Gen. Christopher Musa as Chief of Defence Staff; Maj-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.
President Bola Tinubu had on June 19 approved the immediate retirement of the former Service Chiefs, the ex-Inspector-General of Police and the ex-Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service and appointed their successors.
Consequently, Tinubu had conveyed the nominations and request for confirmation to the National Assembly in a letter dated July 5, 2023, addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Speaker, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.