The Presidency has stated that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonisakin, will proceed on retirement next week, having completed the mandatory years in service.

It was, however, silent on the actual time the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok- Ete Ekwe Ibas, will exit from the service. Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, spoke yesterday in reaction to a story published by New Telegraph on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the retirement from service of Olonisakin and Ibas.

Adesina stated that the CDS and CNS have not yet been replaced. He said that the newspaper’s report “is not completely true.” He said: “General Olanisakin is due to retire from the Army next week, having satisfied the official number of years in service. He is yet to be replaced.

“But the Chief of Naval Staff has a short while more, and President Buhari could, therefore, not have approved his replacement yet.” New Telegraph had reported that the CDS and CNS were directed to handover on or before Friday, December 16. Also, we reported that Olonisakin and Ibas’ disengagements were based on their attaining the official years of retirement from the military.

“Available records indicate that the Service Chiefs belong to the Regular Course 26 of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). “While Olonisakin was commissioned Second Lieutenant on December 18, 1981, Ibas’ commissioning took place in 1983.

One of the sources, who spoke in confidence, said the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, will take over from Olonisakin in acting capacity. Abubakar is the most senior Service Chief after Olonisakin,” New Telegraph had reported.

In his clarification, the presidential spokesman insisted that General Olonisakin was due for retirement next week. Adesina’s statement reads: “It is necessary to respond to a fictive story published in today’s (Monday) edition of New Telegraph Newspaper, to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the replacement of Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, as Service Chiefs.

“The newspaper, rather than rush to print an unsubstantiated story, would have done better to confirm the information at its disposal, from many available military and government information channels. It then would have avoided the self-inflicted wound of publishing a one-legged story that is not completely true, and damaging its brand in the process.

“This administration has repeatedly pledged commitment to transparency and accountability, and one of the hallmarks of that is making information available to the media.

“But when some sections of the media would rather speculate, than crosscheck and double check information, then it borders on deliberate mischief.

That, surely, is not the way to go, for national cohesion and development.” Also, the Minister of Defence, Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd), has denied that he directed the Service Chiefs to proceed on retirement. A statement yesterday by the Public Relations Officer to the Minister, Col. Tukur Gusau, said no communication emanated from Dan-Ali’s Office asking the affected Service Chiefs to handover their positions.

The statement further noted, that the power to appoint and replace Service Chiefs remained an exclusive preserve of the President. “Please be informed that there was no such communication between the office of the Honourable Minister of Defence and the service chiefs directing any one of them to hand over his office and proceed on retirement. “The appointment and replacement of service chiefs is a prerogative responsibility of the office of the President and Commander in Chief,” Gusau said.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44