How Dambazau lost out in NSA race
- nationalpilot
- Jul 17, 2015
- 3 min read
Facts have emerged on Wednesday as to the reason President Muhammadu Buhari shunned former chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau for the position of the National Security Adviser (NSA), and instead opted for Babagana Monguno.
Before the appointment of the new NSA and service chiefs on Monday, Dambazau was 99.99 per cent assured he would be named for the plum job, however, it was gathered that two weeks to the appointment some factors started coming out against him as president was finalising his list for the key security appointment.
It was gathered that as much as the president wanted Dambazau due to his track record in the army and CV, it was discovered that some questions were raised about his activities as the army chief especially regarding Boko Haram insurgency which grew from strength to strength under his watch.
Also, it was further gathered that Buhari had wanted to use Ibrahim Comassie, the retire inspector general of police but later dropped him for Dambazau due to argument on the latter’s age.
Meanwhile, when questions were raised about Dambazau, the president immediately switched to Monguno who it was said believed was unjustly retired during president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration because he preferred Gen. Kenneth Minimah as army chief. Monguno and other senior officers had to retire from the service to pave way for Minimah.
A source revealed, “Buhari initially wanted Ibrahim Comassie, former inspector general of police, as NSA, but so much argument was made about Comassie’s age. He is just 69, but it seems those who made that argument carried the day.
“That is how Dambazau moved to the top of the list as the favourite. However, several issues came up in the process of taking a final decision. One, Buhari does not want any officer who has held positions that exposed them to a lot of money. As it were, he wanted ‘innocent’ military officers to spearhead his security agenda. If you look at the new appointments, most of the security chiefs have never held what we call ‘plum’ positions in Nigeria.
“Buhari wants to re-professionalize the military. Those who have had questions asked about their past stewardship eventually fell down the list. He liked Dambazau a lot but he could not dismiss the case against him. Also, his tenure in the army was reviewed and some of the facts that emerged did not do him any favours.
“The Boko Haram insurgency budded under his watch as army chief, with Gen. Sarki Mukhtar as NSA. The No. 1 security priority of Buhari is to tackle Boko Haram. Dambazau’s CV was not glittering in that aspect. It was going to be a questionable appointment”.
However, another source make it known that even though President Buhari decided on Monguno as NSA, it does not change his likeness for Dambazau and would not hesitate to accommodate him for another position whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“Buhari would still accommodate the retired general from Kano who was the first chief of army staff to hold a PhD when former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua appointed him in 2009.
“The fact that Dambazau did not get the NSA position does not mean he has been blacklisted by Buhari. He is still highly regarded. But you cannot question the choice of Gen. Babagana Monguno as the NSA. He comes highly recommended and he has an enviable record. He is upright.
“He was unfairly retired because Jonathan wanted to make Gen. Kenneth Minimah army chief. So Minimah’s mates and seniors had to go. It was not as if Monguno did anything wrong or was found wanting,” the source added.
Comentários