On the 1st of July, 2013, a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, ruled that any appointment of Service chiefs by the president without approval of the National Assembly is unconstitutional and illegal. Justice Adamu Bello declared the appointments of the
service chiefs without National Assembly’s approval as null and void because they did not conform to Section 18 (1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A20, Laws of the Federation.
Based on that judgment, GEJ sought and got the approval of the National Assembly in January 2014 when he appointed new service chiefs. of staff. Mr. Saraki was already a Senator during the period. But yesterday, he claimed that the Service chiefs appointed by President Buhari need no National Assembly approval.
Prescient Buhari had told the new Service Chiefs shortly after their appointments yesterday that their nominations would be sent to the National Assembly for confirmation. “Legally, you are in acting capacity until the National Assembly accepts you. It is only then that you will take the oath of office,” he said.
A tweeter, Chinedu Peters, then tweeted at Mr. Saraki urging him and his colleagues to immediately call off their recess to clear the new military chiefs. To which Saraki responded by saying “Appointment of service chiefs is an exclusive function of Mr President. Senate can only approve Ministerial, parastatals etc.”….. we sha told u all to enter wt ur change. So stop disturbing me for change abeg, he added…..
