Details emerged on Saturday that President Goodluck Jonathan decided to sack the National Security Adviser (NSA), General Andrew Owoye Azazi, and Minister of Defence, Alhaji Haliru Mohammed, at the end of his general review of the security apparatus.

The review, it was gathered led him to personally interview top security chiefs in the land.

At the end of the series of interview, it was gathered that the president concluded on the need to rev up the security architecture which was being put in place by Azazi.

Sources in the security network told  Sunday Tribune that one of the charges given Azazi at inception of his tenure was to put in place a new security architecture in view of the fact that successive governments, over the years, have failed to grow such architecture.

It was further learnt that Azazi submitted the outlay of the new security plan to President Jonathan on resumption of office and was allowed to proceed with implementation.

Sources said that notwithstanding the security challanges of the past, especially the Maitatsine riots and the Jos riot of the recent past.

“The president was surprised that no security strategy was put in place to curtail riots even after all the issues we have had in the past,” a source said, adding that Azazi was mandated to do that.

It was learnt that while Azazi was proceeding with the setting up of security architecture, it was decided that government should rev up the security challenge.

“It was discovered that even in a football team, the best players get changed to introduce new strategies and rev up the game. That is the way Azazi’s removal is seen. The man himself is not embittered. He understands that the permanent thing in life is change,” a source said.

It was also gathered that besides Colonel Sambo Dasuki, who has been named the new NSA, those also considered include Chief Albert Horsefall, the man who set up the State Security Services (SSS) as its first Director General; and General Alexander Ogomudia, the former Chief of Defence Staff. A source, however, said that the president looked at Nigeria and national interest in taking the decision.

“Some persons were of the view that the position of NSA has stayed too long in the North and that people were watching where the next holders would come from, but the president insisted on national interest and picked Colonel Dasuki,” another source said.

It was  learnt that Azazi is already compiling notes of the experience he went through in office.

“As the first non-Northerner to hold that offfice and the first Nigerian to have commanded all intelligence networks in the military, it is certain that he has seen more than enough that would help the nation in the future and he wants to document his joy at doing what he was trained to do. He is not angry at his removal and he will remain grateful to President Jonathan for the opportunity to serve,” a source in the security circles said.

Meanwhile, General Azazi has refuted media reports circulating, especially on the social media, which claimed that his media aide quoted him to have described President Jonathan as weakling who refused his desire to call in General Muhammadu Buhari for questioning.

The social media, especially Twitter, were awash with the report on Saturday.

But sources close to General Azazi described the reports as totally untrue.

Also Mr Mike Awe who was quoted by a section of the social media to have spoken on behalf of Azazi denied making any such statement.

Awe, who is not a  spokesman of the former NSA, said “the story cannot be true and it is not true.”

Comments (1)

Show/hide comments

Azazi's removal saga
written by eugyno, June 24, 2012

this is long overdue,s the man has ran out of ideas on how to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.

From Shame to fame with only $2 investment
http://tinyurl.com/lrcash1

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment