In a rare show of confidence, President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the tenure of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin and all other service chiefs for the third time.
The service chiefs comprise the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusufu Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar.
The tenure extension, the second in a row for Olonisakin, Abubakar and Ibas, was seen as rare in the military establishment.
In a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer to the Minister of Defence, Colonel Tukur Gusau, which reads: “The President and Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR…has graciously approved the extension of tenure of service of General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai Chief of Army Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-EteIkwe Ibas, the Chief of Naval Staff and Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff.”
The statement said the extension was pursuant to the powers conferred on the President and Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by section 218 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and section 09.06 of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions for Service for officers (2012) Revised.
