President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday decorated Nigeria’s newly appointed service chiefs with their official ranks in a brief but colourful ceremony held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The event, which began shortly after 2 p.m., saw Tinubu perform the decoration alongside Vice President Kashim Shettima and the spouses of the decorated officers.
Those decorated were: General Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General Wahidi Shaibu, Chief of Army Staff, Air Marshal Kennedy Aneke, Chief of Air Staff; and Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, Chief of Naval Staff.
The Senate had confirmed the four nominees on Wednesday after a two-hour closed-door screening session, during which lawmakers grilled them on national security strategies and inter-service coordination.
Tinubu had earlier requested an expedited confirmation process to ensure “continuity and stability in the nation’s security leadership.”
The President, Vice President, and the officers’ spouses took turns pinning the new insignias of rank on each of the decorated chiefs.
The decoration came barely one week after the Presidency announced a sweeping reshuffle in the military hierarchy. In a statement signed by Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, the changes were described as part of efforts to inject new direction into Nigeria’s defence architecture.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General E. A. P. Undiendeye, retained his position.
Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed suggestions that the reshuffle was linked to recent rumours of a coup plot.
“The President acted within his authority as Commander-in-Chief. Service chiefs can be hired and fired by the President,” Onanuga said.
Earlier in the week, Tinubu held a private meeting with the new service chiefs at the Villa. The chiefs met with the President for about 40 minutes.
Presidency sources disclosed that Tinubu charged them to take decisive action against insurgents, bandits, and other criminal networks, particularly in the northern region.
Last Friday’s reshuffle followed an October 19 report alleging that some military officers were plotting to overthrow the government, a claim later debunked by the Defence Headquarters as “false and mischievous.”
The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Tukur Gusau, said the alleged arrests linked to the rumours were merely “issues of indiscipline” within the ranks, describing the report as “intended to cause unnecessary tension and distrust among the populace.”
