EXCLUSIVE: Why Al-Mustapha ‘has to quit Army’

 

Al-Mustapha still in service– Army

Fasehun: Why I support him

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha would have to retire from the Army pretty soon if guidelines contained in the Nigerian Army’s Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) are applied to him, a Blueprint investigation has revealed.

There have been speculations over the future of the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha in the service of the Army ever since he was released from prison on Friday where he had spent over 14 years.

He had been sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos High Court over his alleged complicity in the June 4, 1996 assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, a verdict that was overturned on Friday by the Appeal Court.

The Army authorities said yesterday that Al-Mustapha is still in active service.

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Brigadier General Attahiru Ibrahim, confirmed this while responding to questions on Al-Mustapha’s status during a Joint Security Committee briefing at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

The director, who was represented by the Chief of Staff, DAPR, Colonel Agim, said: “Major Al-Mustapha is still in the army. His case will be looked at by Nigerian Army in line with the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS).”

However, Blueprint’s investigation indicated that Al-Mustapha cannot continue to serve in the army.

A source told our correspondent: “When an army officer has a case in court, he is placed on half-salary. That is what has happened to Al-Mustapha. Now that the case is in his favour, he will be paid arrears of his salary and other benefits for the years he has spent in prison, and then he will be expected to write for voluntary retirement. “

The source disclosed further that based on both the old and the new HTACOS, Al-Mustapha does not qualify to continue serving in the Army.

The source said: “Both the old and new HTACOS specify rules and regulations for Army, Navy and Air Force promotion and retirement. Al-Mustapha is a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular 28 course. All his mates in the Army, Navy and Air Force are Major-Generals and equivalent. Even some Course 29 members are Major-Generals. So, the first issue will be of discipline. It would look odd for a Major-General to salute a Major.

“The second issue is age and rank. In the career progression of officers, an officer is expected to be promoted to a particular rank at a particular age. Al-Mustapha is still a Major and   above the required age-ceiling.

“The third issue is courses. For an officer to progress to certain rank in the armed forces, there are prerequisite courses such as Junior Division (JD), Senior Division (SD) and National Defence College (NDC) or its equivalent.

“While JD is for Captains and equivalents, SD is for Majors, NDC is for Colonels and equivalents. For an officer to be promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel he must have done Senior Division. And also for a Colonel to progress to Brigadier-General he must have done strategic course.  Al-Mustapha has not done Senior Division and National Defence College.”

Details of the newly-signed HTACOS for personnel of the Nigerian military, which  was approved by the Armed Forces Council and  took effect  on July 10, 2012,   provide every officer of the military – Army, Navy and Air Force – with the specifics of the rules and regulations governing all issues, including recruitment, accommodation, promotion, retirements, resignations, death in active service, gratuities and benefits for dependants, burial benefits, child education (dead or active service), medical treatment, pension and allowances.

They also provide for what every officer should expect, whether the personnel joined the military as Regular Combatant Commission (joined as cadet through the Nigerian Defence Academy) or through Direct Regular Commission, Direct Short Service Commission, Short Service Combatant Commission or the Executive/Special Duty/Branch Commission.

Under the old TACOS, the ROD for a Regular Commissioned Lieutenant or its equivalent in the Navy (Sub-Lieutenant) or Air Force (Flying Officer) was 35 years, Captain/Lieutenant/Flight Lieutenant – 40, Major/Lieutenant Commander/Squadron Leader – 46, Lieutenant Colonel/Commander/Wing Commander – 49, Colonel/Captain/Group Captain – 52, Brigadier-General/Commodore/Air Commodore – 54, Major General/Rear Admiral/Air Vice Marshal – 56, Lieutenant-General/Vice Admiral/Air Marshal – 58 and General/Admiral/Air Chief Marshal – 60.

But under the new HTACOS, RODs were extended. Now, the ROD for Regular Commissioned Officers under the HTACOS for Lieutenant or its equivalent in the Navy and Air Force is 39 years, Captain or its equivalent – 46, Major or its equivalent – 50, Lieutenant Colonel or its equivalent – 53, Colonel or its equivalent – 54, Brigadier-General or its equivalent – 56, Major- General or its equivalent – 57, Lieutenant-General or its equivalent – 59 and General or its equivalent remains 60.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr.  Fredrick Fasehun, yesterday defended his support for Al-Mustapha, saying that he supported the freedom given to the former CSO because he was exonerated by a competent court of the land in the killing of  Kudirat Abiola.

He  added that all patriotic Yorubas should be grateful to God that throughout the period of Al-Mustapha’s incarceration nothing harmful had happened to him, noting that all he was doing was to demonstrate to the world that Yorubas are not detribalized and they always stand by justice and equal right.

The OPC leader noted that it was well known that Al-Mustapha did everything possible to save the life of Chief Abiola and that he also allowed  Kudirat to visit her husband when he was in detention. “How then can the same person kill Alhaja Abiola?”

He also disclosed that there was no  reasonable evidence to nail the former CSO on the killing of Kudirat.

“We all must fear God; that is why I decided to join people to support his freedom,” he said.

“Therefore, I  resolved to spearhead bringing Major Al-Mustapha to the ancient city of Kano, to let them know that though we lost our sons and daughter during the June 12, 1993 presidential election, but we still believe in the fact that since court has exonerated Major Al-Mustapha, we Yoruba have nothing against him.”

Fasehun, who made the assertion yesterday at the Yoruba Community Association (YCA) hall on Sanusi Road in Sabon Gari, Kano, where he was hosted by the community and the OPC Kano chapter, charged all Yoruba to always fight for their right.

Fasehun said: “The funny aspect was that the very judge that pronounced the verdict that Major Al-Mustapha should be hanged ran away to overseas because she was called to sign the court verdict, which the Appeal Court later discovered that it lacked transparency.”

Fasehun added that some people may be calling him a betrayer of the Yoruba because of the action he has taken, but posterity would never forget him if he kept quiet.

“Who knows what could have befallen you the Yoruba resident in the northern states of the country? We in the southern part of the country would not have had problem. What of all our people in the North?”

He stated that at his age of 78, he was not looking for anybody to give him money, but would always fight for the Yoruba’s freedom through always calling on the Yoruba to unite and fight a common cause.

He further disclosed that the legacy the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo left nobody among the so-called Yoruba leaders could replace him politically.

“It was Chief Awolowo that built a house for people and sold it at the rate of N3,000, built the first television in Africa and provided free education to the teeming masses in the South-west. Let those so-called Yoruba leaders in politics tell us what they have done. Rather, they were using their position to create enmity, rancour and acrimony among the Yoruba.”

This, he said, made him and other patriotic people to reform the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) so that those people who believe in the principles of Awolowo can still group together to form a party.

The Deputy President of the Yoruba Association in Kano, Chief Jerry Agunbiade, commended Fasehun for playing a noble role in escorting Al-Mustapha to Kano in the spirit of national reconciliation.