Buhari Has Not Appointed Service Chiefs, He Only Nominated Them – Femi Falana

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has faulted the appointment of new Service Chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari.

KanyiDaily recalls that on Wednesday, President Buhari had announced the immediate resignation of the former Service Chiefs and appointed new officers as replacements.

However, in a statement personally signed by him on Wednesday, Falana declared Buhari’s appointment of new service chiefs as illegal and unconstitutional.

Falana said the service chiefs have only been nominated because the President did not follow due process of sending their names to the National Assembly for confirmation.

The Human Rights Lawyer noted that failure to do so means that the said appointments are liable to be set aside on the basis of the valid and subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court.

“Yesterday, President Buhari was reported to have appointed new service chiefs for the armed forces,” the statement reads.

“Upon a critical review of the law on the subject matter the members of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAP) have found that the appointments remain inchoate as President Muhammadu Buhari has not forwarded the names of the proposed service chiefs to the National Assembly for approval in strict compliance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Armed Forces Act.

“The appointments of service chiefs without the concurrence of the National Assembly which had been the practice since 1999 was challenged in the Federal High Court sometime in 2008 by Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN (the current Minister of State in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity) in the case of Keyamo v President Goodluck Jonathan (unreported Suit No FHC/ABJ/ CS/611/2008).

“In his landmark judgment delivered on July 2, 2013, Adamu Bello J. (as he then was) held that it was illegal and unconstitutional, null and void for the President to single-handedly appoint Service Chiefs without the approval of the National Assembly having regards to the combined effect of Section 218 of the Constitution and section 18 (1) & (3) of the Armed Forces Act..,” the statement read.

“Because it was acknowledged that the judgment was sound and unimpeachable the Federal Government did not challenge any aspect of it at the Court of Appeal.

“To that extent, the judgment is binding on all authorities and persons in Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of section 287of the Constitution”.

Falana and ASCAB, therefore, called on President Buhari to forward the names of the proposed Service Chiefs to both houses of the National Assembly for confirmation, stating that a failure to do so, means that the said appointments are liable to be set aside on the basis of the valid and subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court.

KanyiDaily had published a video that shows Nigerian soldiers dancing, rejoicing and jubilating over the sack of General Tukur Buratai as the Chief of Army Staff.