President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday extended the tenure of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonishakin and the three service chiefs in the Nigerian military.
The service chiefs are: Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas.
The Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali who announced the president’s decision in a statement also gave reasons behind it.
In the statement signed by the defence ministry spokesman, Col. Tukur Gusau, the president,who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces arrived at the decision after a careful review of all ongoing military operations in the country, the minister said.
The minister added that special consideration was placed on the efforts of the service chiefs in counter-insurgency operations in the North East and security situation of the volatile Niger Delta region to arrive at the decision.
Dan-Ali disclosed that the president relied on powers conferred on his office by virtue of section 218 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution and section 09.06 of the revised Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers (2012) for the extension.