President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the appointment of new service chiefs, following the resignation of the outgone chiefs.
They are Major General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal I.O Alao, Chief of Air Staff.
Their appointment is with immediate effect.
Special Adviser to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, made this known in a tweet posted on Tuesday.
Buhari had been under constant pressure by Nigerians to relieve the military heads of their positions following widespread insecurity in the country.
Adesina wrote: “PMB appoints new Service Chiefs. Maj Gen LEO Irabor, CDS, Maj Gen I Attahiru, Army, Rear Adm AZ Gambo, Navy, AVM IO Alao, Air Force.
“He congratulates outgoing Service Chiefs on efforts to bring enduring peace to the country.”
The outgone service chiefs; General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Chief of Defence Staff); Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (Chief of Army Staff); Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (Chief of Naval Staff) and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff), were appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2015.
The National Assembly – The Senate and the House of Representatives – since the 8th Assembly, had on different occasions, called for the replacement of the Service Chiefs who they said had failed to live up to their duties of securing the lives and properties of Nigeria.