Changing security chiefs, panacea to winning insecurity war – PDP

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

Upon the return of President Muhammadu Buhari back to the country on Sunday, he has been charged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to change his security service chiefs if the government is sincere about tackling the security challenges besetting the country.

The party also advised Buhari to come to term with the fact there is the need for a total overhauling of the nation’s security architecture.

The PDP said it is obvious that the present crops of security Chiefs have outstayed in office and lack new initiative required to tackle modern day criminal activities such as insurgency, armed banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, armed robbery and cattle rustling, among others, that has bedevilled the country in the last four years.

National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said there is no doubt that the present service Chiefs and men and officers of the Nigerian armed forces are overwhelmed by more sophisticated equipped criminals terrorising the country, especially the entire Northern region.

Speaking as a guest of a television station programme in Abuja on Monday, he said: “There is the need for President Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander-in- Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces to change the parade.

“The President needs to know that fresh blood should be injected into the leadership of the nation’s armed forces. He should allow new set of service Chiefs with fresh ideas to come on board.

” PDP as a party is alarmed by the dangerous dimensions that kidnapping and armed banditry is taking and worried about the fate of ordinary Nigerians if kidnappers could have the effontry to ravage Daura, the home town of Presiden Buhari to abduct the traditional head of the town”

He said the PDP has always alerted the nation of the urgent need to overhaul both the security architecture and service chiefs.

“When we talk, we are not just talking as opposition but to proffer solution to problems facing the country. Nigeria belongs to all of us and insurgency and Killings does not know political party or tribe or religion.

And that is why we will continue to talk on how to save Nigerians from being victims of these obvious ineptitude on the part of people in positions of power.

“As a party, we have severally in form of appeal called on the Buhari government to effect meaningful change in the armed forces to no avail.

This government does not listen to advice and it is unfortunate that the government plays politics with such a weighty issue as that of security of lives of the citizenry,” he said.

Optimistic that the Presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar will reclaim his mandate at the tribunal, Ologbondiyan said a Federal Government under the control of PDP will be proactive in handling issues of security.