President Bola Tinubu on Friday reshuffled the service chiefs, dropping the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, replacing him with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede.
Oluyede had succeeded Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, who died in September 2024.
According to a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, Major-General Waidi Shaibu steps into Oluyede’s shoes as Chief of Army Staff.
Air Vice Marshall Sunday Kelvin Aneke replaces Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff, while Rear Admiral Idi Abbas is the new Chief of Naval Staff, succeeding Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla.
Musa, Abubakar and Ogalla were appointed in June 2023, barely a month in office by President Tinubu.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence Major-General Emmanuel Parker Undiendeye however retains his position.
According to Dare, the new appointments were ‘in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture’.
He further said: ‘The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, expresses most profound appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the other service chiefs for their patriotic service and dedicated leadership’.
President Tinubu charged the new service chiefs to justify the confidence reposed in them by further enhancing the professionalism, vigilance and comradeship that define Nigeria’s Armed Forces.
All appointments take immediate effect, according to the statement.
