…as many Generals may leave service
Newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya, assumed Command of the Nigerian Army on Friday.
This came seven days after the death of the former Army Chief, Lt.-General Ibrahim Attahiru in a plane crash.
A number of Generals were on hand to receive Yahaya at the Quarter Guard, where he inspected a Guard of Honour.
Yahaya’s appointment has put the service of a number of generals on the line going by military tradition on seniority.
Yahaya is of Regular Course 37 of the Nigerian Defence Academy, but there are other Major-Generals who are of Courses 35 and 36, who are his seniors.
With his elevation as the head of the Nigerian Army, there are chances that all those senior to him might be asked to retire from the Army.
While there were no formal ceremonies and handover, Yahaya met with the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor.
Thereafter he also met with Principal Staff Officers (PSO) and Commanders. Those at the meeting included army Chief of Policy and Plans Major-General Benjamin Ahanotu and other members of Course 35 and 36.
Until Yahaya’s appointment on Thursday, Gen. Ahanotu was being tipped as the number one candidate for the replacement of Attahiru, being the most senior in the Army and also a member of Course 35.
Reacting to Yahaya’s appointment, a civil society organization, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said that it was no longer surprised “by the President’s predilection for appointing only Northern Moslems into strategic national defence portfolios.”
“These serial abuses of the Constitution by President Buhari would have merited his impeachment from office” if the country had “strong and independent persons as heads of the National legislative chambers,” it said in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko.
“Buhari’s refusal to appoint an officer from the Southeast as the Army Chief of Staff even when he is the most senior of the Majors- General further solidifies his notoriety as someone who does not believe in one Nigeria.”
