Acting Army Chief To Assume Office Friday

The acting Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede is scheduled to assume duties on Friday, November 1.

The Nigerian Army disclosed this in a notice, shared via its X handle (Formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

The development followed incessant rebuttal by the Army that the appointment of an Acting Chief of Army Staff was not recognised under the Harmonised Armed Forces Act.

However, President Bola Tinubu had on Wednesday appointed Oluyede pending the return of the indisposed substantive Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja currently receiving treatment abroad.

The notice on Thursday, signed by Group Captain Chris Erondu on behalf of the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau disclosed that the handover ceremony would be held on Friday in Abuja at 10 am.

It read, “The formal taking over ceremony of the newly appointed acting Chief of Army Staff, Major General Olufemi Oluyede is scheduled for tomorrow as follows: Date: 1 November 2024; Time: 10000hrs; Venue: DHQ Conference Room, Abuja.”

The acting army chief, 56, is among the youngest to hold the Chief of Army Staff position in the country’s history.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1992 and attained the rank of Major General in September 2020, he previously served as the 56th Commander of the Infantry Corps, based in Jaji, Kaduna.

Apart from being a colleague of the temporarily indisposed COAS, Oluyede was also his coursemate in the 39th Regular Course.

He had served in several leadership positions including such as Platoon Commander and Adjutant at the 65 Battalion, Company Commander at the 177 Guards Battalion, and Commandant of the Amphibious Training School.

He had participated in several critical military operations, including the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) mission in Liberia, Operation HARMONY IV in Bakassi, and, more recently, Operation HADIN KAI in the North East, where he commanded the 27 Task Force Brigade.

Oluyede has received various awards throughout his career, including the Corps Medal of Honour, the Grand Service Star, and the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Award.

He is married and had three children.