•Minister has right to summon military chiefs, say Sagay, Rotimi-Williams
Minister of Defence, Aliyu Gusau, who has been enmeshed in a resignation saga, is now believed only to have sent in a
letter to President Goodluck Jonathan threatening to quit because of alleged insubordination to him by heads of military high command.
Gusau, himself a retired Army General and one-time Chief of Army Staff, was said to have demanded from the President who is the Commander-in-Chief to rein in the Service Chiefs whom he was appointed to supervise in the first instance.
The minister’s letter followed an alleged face-off he had with the military commanders who failed to attend a meeting he summoned on assumption of office as Defence Minister last week.
In the letter to Jonathan, Gusau was said to have accused the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, an Air Vice Marshal, of being “rude” to him.
Gusau and the Presidency have had to deny that the minister has resigned barely a week after he was sworn in alongside 10 others into the President’s cabinet.
Gusau’s appointment was said to have been informed by Jonathan’s renewed efforts to curb the bloody insurgency engendered by the extremist Boko Haram Islamic sect.
Earlier reports said the minister submitted a resignation letter, citing insubordination after Badeh purportedly disparaged him and the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, for criticising his (Badeh’s) failure to arrange a meeting between them (new ministers) and the service chiefs.
But several officials who spoke to online news medium, PREMIUM TIMES, narrated a troubling power tussle between the ministers and the service chiefs with far-reaching implications on the administration’s war against Boko Haram.
Government sources said while the retired General did not expressly submit a resignation letter, he made it clear to the President he will not work with military officials he considered “insubordinate”.
The sources said since his swearing-in, Gusau made repeated efforts for a meeting with the service chiefs, but failed to secure one.
When Badeh met with Gusau on Monday, he (Badeh) was alleged to have explained that the minister lacked the powers to summon the service chiefs to meetings without his (Badeh’s) knowledge.
The Chief of Defence Staff also reportedly insisted that it was not the place of the Defence Minister to directly issue directives to the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, without routing it through the office of the Defence Chief.
Under the 1999 Constitution as amended, and the Armed Forces Act, Badeh reportedly explained, only the President has the powers to direct the service chiefs as Gusau sought to do.
After sending his letter of complaint to the President on Tuesday, Gusau did to show up on Wednesday at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, triggering speculations that he had quit the cabinet.
Presidency sources said Jonathan is working to resolve the crisis and has tapped the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, Senate President, David Mark, and former military President Ibrahim Babangida for help.
Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Itse Sagay and Ladi Rotimi- Williams, reacted to the Gusau’s resignation row on Thursday, insisting that minister has the power to summon the military commanders to meetings.
Sagay in a chat with Daily Independent said the Minister of Defence is the political boss of the service chiefs and thus has every right to summon them.
“In my layman’s view, the Minister of Defence is the boss of all the military personnel under his ministry.
“In critical times like this, if the minister who is in charge of the ministry which controls the ministry in charge of Army, Navy, Air Force cannot give instruction to the service chiefs, then it doesn’t bode well for the country,” Sagay noted.
On his part, Rotimi-Williams insisted that the minister was acting on behalf of the President and thus has every right to summon the service chiefs.
“The Minister of Defence has every right to summon the service chiefs. He is exercising that power on behalf of the president. The minister is in charge of Ministry of Defence,” he added.
Source: Daily Independent
