President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate for the confirmation of the newly appointed service chiefs.
The request, which covers the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Waheedi Shaibu; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Idi Abbas; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Kennedy Aneke, and Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General Emmanuel Undiendeye, was announced by the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio, during the plenary on Tuesday.
In the correspondence, President Tinubu urged the upper chamber of the National Assembly to give expeditious consideration to the appointments.
The demand of Mr Tinubu was later referred to the committee of the whole for screening and confirmation of the nominees next week.
A few days ago, President Tinubu reshuffled the military hierarchy. The Nigerian President replaced the former CDS, General Christopher Musa, with Mr Oluyede (the immediate past Chief of Army Staff).
He, however, retained Major-General E.A.P. Undiendeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The rejigging, according to presidential aide, Mr Sunday Dare, was due to “the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture”.
“All appointments take immediate effect,” he wrote.
At the time, the presidency explained that Mr Tinubu made changes to the “hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture.”
“The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, expresses most profound appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the other Service Chiefs for their patriotic service, and dedicated leadership.
“The President charges the newly appointed Service Chiefs to justify the confidence reposed in them to further enhance the professionalism, vigilance and comradeship that define the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” the statement noted.
The change had occured some days after it was rumoured that about 16 personnel of the Nigerian military were arrested for an alleged attempt to remove Mr Tinubu from office.
The military denied this, stressing that the affected officials were picked up for other offences, while the federal government reiterated its faith in the country’s military.
On Monday, the new service chiefs held a meeting with President Tinubu at the Villa.