The presidency has confirmed that General Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Defence Staff, will be bowing out of service next week.
It did not, however, indicate whether the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, would also be retiring anytime soon but noted that Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, has a short time to spend in service.
The confirmation came on Monday following report credited to one of the national dailies which purported that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the sack of Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas.
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who refuted the sack report in a statement in Abuja, said President Buhari has not announced a replacement for Olonisakin.
Adesina faulted the report which he described as unsubstantiated, noting that a newspaper had published that President Muhammadu Buhari had 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.
“Gen 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. But the Chief of Naval Staff has a short while more, and President Buhari could, therefore, not have approved his replacement yet.
“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 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”.
