Mahdi Shehu: Tinubu’s Sack of Service Chiefs Driven by Coup Fear, Not Worsening Insecurity

A prominent public affairs analyst, Mahdi Shehu, has strongly condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent overhaul of Nigeria’s security leadership, accusing the President of acting from a position of personal fear rather than a genuine concern for the nation’s spiralling insecurity. Shehu argues that the sudden change in the Service Chiefs was a panicky reaction to unconfirmed coup rumours, rather than the persistent national tragedy of mass killings.

Dependable NG reports that in a post shared on his official X handle on Saturday, Mahdi Shehu stated that the President’s decision was motivated purely by personal survival instincts following reports of a possible military coup, which was officially denied. To underscore his point on self-interest, Shehu quoted the Bible: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” – James 3:16. He claimed this scripture perfectly illustrates what he sees as Tinubu’s visible demonstration of greed and selfishness through his actions.

Shehu detailed that the continuous daily carnage across the country, including the frequent sacking of villages and the killings of hundreds of citizens in states like Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Yobe, Borno, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, and Nasarawa, had failed to move the President to act decisively on his security architecture. He lamented that these tragic events were not compelling enough for Tinubu to dismiss his security chiefs.

“The moment his brand of democracy came under what was officially denied yet unofficially confirmed as a coup, he acted swiftly and panicky,” the analyst asserted. Shehu described the move as an action “shrouded in darkness and left to everybody’s imagination,” alleging that the President only showed decisiveness when his own political position was under threat.

Furthermore, the public affairs analyst extended his criticism to the nation’s economic state, pointing out the contradiction in the President’s decision-making. He accused Tinubu of retaining what he termed a “wizardly economic team” despite widespread economic failure, deepening poverty, and hunger. “With 139 million Nigerians facing abject poverty and hunger, and other gory economic failures, Tinubu is yet to sack his economic team,” Shehu wrote, concluding that the President’s latest actions once again confirm humanity’s innate selfish nature, which remains dominant even in the face of glaring national failures.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday carried out a major shake-up in the country’s security leadership, sacking the outgoing Service Chiefs and approving the appointment of their replacements. The new appointments saw Olufemi Oluyede named the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa, in a move officially described as strengthening the nation’s security architecture.