The Senate will today (Wednesday) screen the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as the nominee for Minister of Defence — a process lawmakers say is critical to addressing Nigeria’s escalating security challenges.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele made the disclosure in a statement issued through his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, stressing that the screening carries significant weight for national peace and stability.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on Tuesday transmitted a formal request to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, urging the upper chamber to confirm Musa without delay.
Bamidele said the correspondence would be read at today’s plenary, after which senators will immediately proceed with the screening in compliance with Section 147 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“We cannot delay such a request, especially at this critical moment in our nation’s history,” Bamidele said, adding that the nation must speed up efforts to confront bandits, extremists, terrorists and other groups threatening national security.
He emphasised that with the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on national security, cooperation between the Presidency and the National Assembly is essential.
“The screening of the Defence Minister nominee is one of the ways to demonstrate such synergy purely in the national interest,” he added.
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