Mungonu absent as Buhari meets service chiefs

Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police in the State House, Abuja.

Consciously absent was National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj. Gen. Babagana Mungonu (retd).

Mungonu who on Monday was appointed co-chair of the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (NHCC), has always been part of such security.

At the end of the meeting behind closed doors with the president, the security chiefs headed for the office of the Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari, for another round of meeting.

The meetings came on the heels of calls from various quarters for the sack of the service chiefs as a result of escalated security crises plaguing the country.

Present at the meeting 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, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and the IGP.

In a recent leaked memo signed by Monguno, he had accused Kyari of undue interference on national security matters, stressing that the chief of staff issues directives to the service chiefs without the prior knowledge or approval of the president.

Mungonu last year led the process that led to the launch of the national security strategy 2019.