According to Investigations, Jonathan removed Azazi, who also hails from Bayelsa State like him, in order to appease power brokers in the northern part of the country and angry members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
The House had on Tuesday summoned Jonathan and his security chiefs to address it on the worsening state of insecurity in the country.
The resolution was sequel to a motion by Mr. Yakubu Barde, a member of Peoples Democratic Party from Kaduna State, on the bombing of three churches in Kaduna State last Sunday, and the reprisals that followed.
The motion was unanimously adopted by the House.
An impeccable presidency source, who did not want his name in print, said the thinking in government circle was that by firing the two security chiefs, it would be clear to all stakeholders including the lawmakers that the President was not handling the insecurity in the country with levity.
He said, "What the lawmakers said was that they needed the president to come and explain to them what he is doing to curtail the violence in the North.
"The sacking is of course, a clear answer to that question.
"That clearly sends a signal to the House that the President is not folding his arms, and that he is indeed, committed to winning the anti-terrorism war.
"He has sacked his security chiefs who he believed were not doing enough, and he has read the Riot Act to those still there.
"So, he has given the answer to that question clearly to all without necessarily appearing before the House."
Also, it was gathered that two major power brokers, who are Major-Generals, were said to be aggrieved with appointments made by the President since Jonathan assumed office.
Traditionally, the North considers the position of NSA as its own. People from the zone had constantly been appointed the NSA until Jonathan summoned the courage to appoint Azazi following the resignation of Aliyu Gusau, who also vied for the presidential ticket of the PDP with Jonathan in 2011.
While Jonathan was said to have rebuffed all attempts from the North to recover the seat since he appointed Azazi, the continued bombings and atmosphere of insecurity that pervaded the country were said to have made him to change his mind.
Besides, his desire to satisfy the two generals, it was gathered, made him appoint retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki as the new NSA.
Dasuki is said to be linked to the two generals by profession, and marriage, as his sister is said to be married to one of them.
A prominent northerner, who disclosed this to our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday said, "You can see that the President used two stones to kill one bird."
He said while Dasuki would have the cooperation of Gusau, the other general would equally support him.
However, the spokesman of Coalition of Northern leaders, academics, professionals and businessmen, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, queried the rationale behind Dasuki's appointment.
He said with the appointment, Gusau, who he alleged had wanted to return to his former office, had been probably re-appointed.
He said, "Dasuki's appointment is another controversial decision by the government. This is because as a brother-in-law to Gasau, the former NSA might have returned to office by proxy.
"Gusau had been itching to return to office long ago. Now, we can say that Gusau is back as the NSA. But Nigerians would want to ask: Is Gusau or those close to him the only people that can serve as the NSA?
"But the important thing is this, if we put square pegs in square holes, there would be performance. But if you put people in security positions simply because other considerations, then there would be problems.
"And that was what happened when Azazi was made NSA. I knew about his career right from when he was a Second Lieutenant. He got the NSA job because he is an Ijaw man.
"I hope we are not going to do the same mistake again, because Dasuki's antecedent as a security person is not very rich. He might have undergone some security courses but his main career was as an infantry officer."
Mohammed also spoke on the sacking of Bello and described his appointment in the first place as an aberration.
He said, "The only thing that qualified him was his party card. He was a former minister of communications.
"But as a PDP member, nothing happened. Abuse of office is the bedrock of the PDP. His sacking is therefore, good radiance to bad rubbish. May we never hear his name and that of Azazi in Nigeria's political sphere again."
Before his appointment, Bello was the acting National Chairman of the PDP. He took over from Dr. Okwesilizie Nwodo, when the latter resigned.
A former member of the National Working Committee of the party, who spoke with one of our correspondents on Saturday, said Bello allegedly negotiated for his choice of ministry before he joined the government.
The PDP top shot who pleaded anonymity said, "You see, as at that time, the President wanted Bello out of the PDP because of his antagonism against his emergence. Bello, I think was aware, and that was why he was said to have asked to pick the ministry he wanted.
"Everybody knew that he would fail in that ministry, especially during this security problem facing the country.
"Maybe the president also agreed either to allow him fail or to appease the northern elements who believed that he would short-change them."
Bello, who was among the resource persons at the NWC retreat, which was held at Uyo last week, was said to have expressed surprise at his removal from office.
Culled from Punch
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