The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has ordered top military officers who are seniors to the newly appointed Service Chiefs to proceed on voluntary retirement from the service by Monday.
The DHQ in the memo with reference number DHQ/I5/PLANS/801/13 directed all officers with seniority on commission above that of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect.
The order, which was contained in a memo dated June 26 and signed by Maj-Gen Y. Yahaya on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, was directed to Generals, Brigadiers-general, Air Vice Marshals, and Rear Admirals in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Nigerian Navy, who are senior to the new service chiefs.
This, the military hierarchy insisted, was meant to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline.
TheHintsNews reports that President Bola Tinubu had announced the immediate retirement of General Lucky Irabor who was the Chief of Defence Staff; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Farouk Yahaya; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oludayo Amao.
Consequently, the President appointed new Service Chiefs with Maj-Gen Christopher Musa as the Chief of Defence Staff; Maj-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja as the Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as the Chief of Naval Staff, while Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar was made the Chief of Air Staff.
Tinubu also appointed DIG Kayode Egbetokun as the acting Inspector-General of Police and Maj-Gen. E Undiandeye, Chief of Defence Intelligence; while a former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, was appointed as the National Security Adviser.
The retirement of the senior officers across the three services was in line with the long-standing military tradition that officers who were senior to the service chiefs would be retired.
While the new CDS is a member of 38 Regular Course, the COAS, the CNS, and the CAS are members of 39 Regular Course.
The memo reads: “It would be recalled that the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently appointed new CDS and Service Chiefs on June 19, 2023.
‘’In order to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline, it is important that all officers whose officer cadet courses run seniority above that of the current Service Chiefs disengage from the Service.
“Consequently, I am directed to respectfully request services to direct all officers with seniority on commission above that of NDA Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from Service with immediate effect. I am to add that affected officers are to submit their applications to their respective Service Headquarters no later than Mon July 3, 2023.”