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ARMED Forces chiefs on Tuesday opposed any attempt to institute the federal character principle into the running of the affairs of the military establishment.

Taking turns at delivering position papers in the course of a public hearing convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Defence on the Armed Forces Services Commission Bill, all the service chiefs posited that the federal character principle would be destructive to the military.

"Federal character is acceptable to us in the military at the point of entry. But promotions and postings are credited to ones bravery, firmness and merit", explained Maj.- Gen. Luke Oshiokeye, chief of administration of the Nigerian Army. He spoke on behalf of the Army.

At the public hearing which featured the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Alex Ogomudia; Maj.-Gen. I.B.M. Haruna (rtd), Col. Bello Fadile (rtd), among others, the service chiefs stated that promotions were done strictly on merit and based on reports and recommendations from each personnel's supervising officer and not by the whims of any civilian authority.

Also speaking against the passage of the bill which was sponsored by Chudi Offodile, the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral S. Afolayan criticised it as having the potential to obviate the unit of command in the Armed Forces.

"The effect is better imagined than experienced", said Afolayan, adding that it would also be detrimental to the sustenance of discipline and principle of hierarchy in the force.

Afolayan stated that the introduction of federal character into postings and promotions would certainly usher in mediocrity. The Chief of Naval Staff canvassed the continuity of the existing arrangement for the achievement of efficient and proper military operations.

The army chiefs also noted that the principle of federal character was already being applied at the point of entry into the Armed Forces and that it lacked relevance beyond that point.

Voicing opposition against the establishment of the commission, the service chiefs identified the bill as an adoption of the Police Service Commission. Based on this, they declared such a commission impracticable because there was already a military service system and also because the Army was combative while the Police Force was a civilian force.

Other complaints against the commission by the military establishment were the probability of its usurping powers already vested on the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces and that there were boards for the various forces already performing functions designed in the bill for the commission.

However, some retired Armed Forces personnel at the public hearing rose to speak in favour of establishing the commission.

Reacting to questions by Tony Aziegbani, chairman of the Committee on Navy, Gen. Haruna (rtd) asserted that unlike the boards of the Navy and the Army, the commission was not a military one but a political body which captured the conscience of the Nigerian people to whom the armed forces belonged.

"It is with the mistake of this commission that we will support research outside the Armed Forces for things that will be beneficial both to the military and to the country.

"It is the commission that will point out that we have factories producing things which our military require in their operation both at home and abroad and harness all to the benefit of the country", said Haruna.

Also contributing in favour of the commission, Captain Ahmed Adamu (rtd) claimed that the commission would be an answer to the long problem of isolation of the military from civilian authority to which it was constitutionally supposed to be subjected.

Like Haruna, the captain prescribed the inclusion of the chairman of the Armed Service Commission when enacted, as a member of the various leadership councils and boards of the various arms of the military.

The captain traced the problem of incessant coups and cronyism in the military to the prevalent culture of secrecy and isolation, which the military had been subjected to.

Offodile, the sponsor of the bill, is also chairman of the House Committee on Public Petitions.

According to him, the bill was drafted to fill up several wide gaps in military administration and operations in the country and in response to complaints of ethnic discrimination in Armed Forces promotions and postings.

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