The last may not have been heard of the National Security Adviser, NSA, Major-General Mohammed Babagana Monguno’s as a percieved rift widens occasioned by his absence from security meeting in the past month.
Reports in the media have suggested that the retired General may have been stopped from coming to the presidential villa and will not be attending security briefings and the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meetings, hencefort ElombahNews has reported.
ElombahNews reports that According to an online Newspaper, the directive stopping the NSA was given by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari.
THEWILL a other tabloid also reports that Monguno did not attend a special security meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the service chiefs, which held behind closed-doors at the presidential villa on Monday.
Monguno did not also attend last week’s FEC meeting presided by President Buhari because of the directive stopping him from going to the Villa.
In a move decried within the national security circles as being aimed more at “cutting the NSA to size” than maximising personnel efficiency, Mr Buratai ordered the immediate withdrawal of top army officers attached to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) earlier this month, ElombahNews investigations have revealed.
A few days after seven colonels and three army generals serving at the NSA were ordered to leave without being replaced on February 4, the remaining team of 13 army officers serving at the NSA were notified to report elsewhere on February 10, leaving the fortified ONSA facility without any army protection, according to security sources and the notice of deployment seen by journalists, ElombahNew reports.
Twenty-three army officers serving at the ONSA were posted out without being replaced in two batches on February 4 and 10, documents showed.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno
has repeatedly clashed with Mr. Kyari over control of security and intelligence matters.
Last week the cold war between both top officials became public after two restricted memos written by the NSA to service chiefs and the President accusing Kyari of interference in security matters and issuing orders in variance to that of the President leaked to the press.
THEWILL has also reported that all security branches – Army, Police, Air Force, DSS, and Navy have all withdrawn their officers serving at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), in solidarity with Kyari.
THEWILL further gathered from an anonymous source that the move has tremendously degraded operations at the NSA and rendered the office irrelevant in the scheme of things.
The source further confirmed that Kyari, a lawyer by training and a former Managing Director of UBA Plc., alongside the very influential Mamman Daura (Buhari’s cousin) and businessman Mallam Isa Funtua, who all make up The Cabal, Buhari’s powerful kitchen cabinet, have chosen a replacement for Monguno.
Present at Monday’s security briefing were Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
After the closed-door meeting with President Buhari, the Service Chiefs moved to see Kyari in his office for another briefing.
Observers say the insecurity in the country is threatening the daily lives of Nigerians and government effors and strategy needs to be rejigged to protect lives and property from insurgency kidnapping banditry Clashes between farmers and herders.
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