Presidency Says No Plan to Replace Service Chiefs

• Says CDS retires next week

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

The presidency yesterday in Abuja said the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, has not been replaced as claimed in a newspaper’s report.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, said contrary to the report, Olonisakin would retire from the army next week.

The statement said: “General Olonisakin is due to retire from the Army next week, having satisfied the official number of years in service. He is yet to be replaced.”

Adesina also said there was no plan to replace Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, as a service chief.

“But the Chief of Naval Staff has a short while more, and President Buhari could, therefore, not have approved his replacement yet,” the statement added.

Adesina said Buhari’s administration had repeatedly pledged commitment to transparency and accountability.
According to him, one of the hallmarks of that is making information available to the media.
He said: “But when some sections of the media would rather speculate, than cross-check and double check information, then it borders on deliberate mischief. That, surely, is not the way to go, for national cohesion and development.”