Group Berates Gbajabiamila over Comments on Service Chiefs

The National Democratic Front (NDF) has described the statement credited to the  Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, following the Service Chiefs' refusal to honour the invitation of the House as a 'careless utterance'.

The House had on Thursday enlisted a motion to review the military “Super Camps” in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east on the Order Paper but the leadership of the House in its wisdom stepped the motion down so as not to divulge sensitive security issues before the television cameras.

Gbajabiamila asked the sponsor of the motion, Hon. Chuddy, to tarry a while until after the scheduled meeting with the service chiefs, but became furious when they refused to honour the invitation.

Gbajabiamila said, “The heads are not here. I am aware some of them were somewhere last night. They have shown a disdain for this institution. I am almost embarrassed. There was no call placed to my office by the service chiefs to explain why. I am just seeing accountants as representatives. I don’t think this can happen anywhere in the world."

 

However, the  Secretary-General of the NGO, Abdukakadir Bolaji, advised the Speaker not to return to the era where instead of parliamentary functions, the legislature issued summons to heads of critical agencies as bait for extortion. 

He stated that the press conference became inevitable due to the "flamboyance and overreaching disposition" of some elected political office holders in the country whose actions and inactions are buoyed by the need to make headlines in the national dailies at all cost, not minding the effect on the overall interest of the country. 

Bolaji said, "The National Democratic Front is appalled by the careless utterances of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, which by and large presents a despicable picture to members of the unsuspecting general public on how some political office holders though holding sensitive positions of authority, but not in tune with the realities on the ground in the country."

He stressed that Gbajabiamila must quickly come to the realisation that the Service Chiefs were appointed by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and as such, they are not subject to his whims and caprices.