Buhari Disappointed At Service Chiefs, Says ‘I Thought I Picked The Best’

President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the performances of the service chiefs he appointed into office in 2015 may have been disappointing.

He made the statement when he spoke to ThisDay and Arise TV on the controversy surrounding the retirement of Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

Recall that the IGP completed 35 years in service last Thursday, December 3, 2018. On Friday, he held a closed door meeting with the president, and speculations had it that the president planned on elongating his tenure.

However, Buhari, speaking on the issue for the first time, said he was not “afraid” of the police boss, and that he would take action.

He further said he accepts responsibility for not changing his military and security chiefs since 2015.

He said, “I saw on the television, somebody has given me last warning to…I have accepted responsibility, I don’t think I am afraid of him and I don’t think I have organised roadblocks and got collections from it to say that I will lose some part of my revenue from him.

“I will take action,” he added.

On why he has not changed the service chiefs, Buhari said, “I am measuring the options critically. When you have a case of emergency, if you don’t wait for an appropriate time to do it, then you create competition within the service.

“There are so many ambitious people waiting, only one man can be Chief of Army Staff in the army, only one man can be the Inspector-General of Police. Don’t forget that it was this administration that appointed all the three.

“I didn’t know them on personal basis. I followed records and thought I picked the best then. Of course, their performance may be disappointing but I accept responsibility for not changing them. My reason is based on my own experience.”