ASO ROCK WATCH: Tinubu asserts self as Commander-in-Chief. Two other talking points

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, sacked all Service Chiefs, and named replacements for them.

We tracked two other stories from the Presidency for your reading delight.

1. Tinubu sacks, replaces service chiefs

Tinubu, on June 19, ordered the retirement of all Service Chiefs and replaced them with immediate effect.

The Director of Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Willie Bassey had said in a statement:
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the immediate retirement of all Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, Advisers, and Comptroller-General of Customs from Service as well as their replacements with immediate effect,” the statement reads in part.

Tinubu’s sack, and immediate replacement of the Service Chiefs is a clear act of asserting himself as Commander-in-Chief of the county’s armed forces.

It tells of a new attempt at rejigging the security apparatus assumed to have been underperforming in its responsibility of securing lives.

The President must admit though that the buck stops on his table, and that staying proactive would be an essential ingredient in achieving success.

Will he make accountability a watchword?
Will he lead from the front? Will he restore sagging morale? Will he…? Many questions begging for answers at this time.

Two other stories

2. Tinubu suspends, probes EFCC chairman, Bawa

Tinubu, on June 14, suspended the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, indefinitely.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the indefinite suspension from office of Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office…”, a statement by the Director of Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Willie Bassey, read.

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Tinubu’s suspension of the EFCC czar may signpost a resolve to clean-up the anti-corruption agency, also said to have lent itself to manipulations by the executive.

But is it not said that those who come to equity must come with clean hands? With Tinubu’s alleged blemishes, it would excite the citizenry to see how the new head would apply himself to the job, exercising accountability, transparency and independence under a leader who himself reportedly needs to be cleansed.

3. Tinubu tasks media to perform its watchdog role

On June 17, Tinubu charged the media to keep checking the excesses of the government.

In a statement titled: “As journalism marches on in the service of Nigeria,” and issued by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, Dele Alake, he noted: “…the larger picture is to ensure at all times that we place the profession in a prime position to continually fulfil its constitutional obligation of…checking the excesses of government and promoting the greatest good of the greatest number of our people.”

The President’s charge, no doubt, demonstrates his understanding of the role of the media in shaping, and/or ensuring good governance by holding leadership accountable.

An investor in the media space himself, the Tinubu administration must align itself to the enduring principles of media freedoms, without which his claims to democratic rights for citizens will amount to emptiness.

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