The Nigerian Navy has said that former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (rtd.) would hand over to his successor, Rear Admiral Ikechukwu Ogalla at a public ceremony on Friday, 23rd June.
In a statement on Wednesday, Naval Director of Information, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan said: “Suffice to state that handing and taking over ceremony in the Nigerian Navy from inception is procedural. Upon the announcement of the change of the ‘Watch on deck’, the outgoing CNS is expected to give detailed brief to the incoming CNS, tour key naval facilities and perform the ceremonial lowering of ensign.
“Accordingly, the programme of events leading to the formal handing and taking over ceremony has kicked off to culminate at a public ceremony on Friday 23rd June 2023 in line with age-long naval tradition”.
The naval spokesman debunked reports that Gambo refused to hand over to Ogalla after President Bola Tinubu retired all service chiefs on Monday and appointed new ones.
Ayo-Vaughan advised members of the public to discountenance “the malicious publication and erroneous information as a figment of the reporter’s imagination”.
“Instructively, it is pertinent to mention that sister services are also due to handover as they have set aside specific dates for their handing and taking over ceremonies. Members of the public are therefore advised to discountenance the malicious publication and erroneous information as a figment of imagination”, he said.
