Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai (rtd), has been deployed to the Benin Republic.
General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (rtd), former Defence Chief, is the head of mission to Cameroon.
At a brief ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, presented letters of credence to the ex-service chiefs.
This was disclosed in a statement by Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, information officer in the ministry.
“The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama today 22 June 2021, presented Letters of Credence to the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Cameroon, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Retired) and the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Benin, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai (Retired).
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs during the brief ceremony congratulated the immediate past service chiefs on their appointment by Mr. President and called on them to deploy their wealth of experience to promote Nigeria’s interest during their tour of duty in countries of accreditation.”
However, the statement was silent on the posting of the other former Service chiefs, Vice Admiral Ibok- Ette Ibas (retired) former Chief of Naval Staff; Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retired), ex-Chief of Air Staff and and Air Vice Marshal Muhammad S. Usman (Rtd), former Chief of Defense Intelligence.
News360 info had recently reported that President Muhammadu Buhari had, on February 4, 2021, appointed the ex-service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.
The president appointed the ex-service chiefs in 2015 and refused to bow to the pressure to relieve them of their duties until they “voluntarily resigned”.
Before their “retirement” there were widespread calls for their removal over failure to contain insecurity.
Their appointment as Nigeria’s ambassadors to foreign countries sparked public outrage, with calls on the Senate to reject their nominations.
Despite the outrage, the Senate, on February 23, 2021, confirmed their nominations.
