President Bola Tinubu has appointed Major General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede as the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
Another Yoruba from the president’s ethnic extraction Gen Oluyede replaces Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, also a Yoruba.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Wednesday said Oluyede will act as the COAS pending the return of Lt. General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja,, who is said to be indisposed and receiving treatment abroad.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has appointed Major General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede as the acting Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
“Oluyede will act in the position pending the return of the indisposed substantive Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja,” the statement reads.
The current appointment further contradicts Nigeria’s Federal Character principle which encourages inclusivity in line with the country’s multiethnic composition.
Currently, people of the president’s ethnic extraction dominate the management of the security aparatus and commanding heights of Nigeria’s public finance.
