President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday appointed new Service Chiefs and National Security Adviser, NSA.

This followed the sack of all Service Chiefs and NSA inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan.

New Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, is Maj. Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin, who replaced Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, while the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, is Maj. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

He replaced Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah. Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas takes over from Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin as Chief of Naval Staff, while Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar replaced Air Marshal Adesola Amosu as Chief of Air Staff.

Buhari also named Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan as the Chief of Defence Intelligence, while Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) is the National Security Adviser, replacing Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

According to a statement issued yesterday by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, Maj. Gen. Olonisakin, (N/6901) hails from Ekiti State and until his appointment was the Head of the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command in Minna, Niger State. Maj. Gen. Buratai hails from Borno State and until his new appointment was the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force which has its headquarters in Ndjamena, Chad.

He has previously served as Commander of the Nigerian Army’s 2nd Brigade in Port Harcourt and Commander of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, Kaduna State.

Rear Admiral Ibas (NN/0746) hails from Cross River State and was enlisted into the Nigerian Defence Academy as a member of the 26th Regular Course in 1979 and was commissioned as a Sub- Lieutenant in 1983.

His previous appointments include: Naval Provost Marshal, Chief Staff Officer, Naval Training Command, Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command and Chief of Logistics, Naval Headquarters. Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Navy Holdings Limited.

Air Vice Marshal Abubakar (NAF/1433) hails from Bauchi State. His previous appointments include: Chief of Standards and Evaluation, NAF Headquarters; Chief of Defence Communications and Air Officer Commanding, NAF Training Command.

Until his new appointment, he was the Chief of Administration, NAF Headquarters. Air Vice Marshal Morgan hails from Benue State and was commissioned into the Nigerian Air Force as a Pilot Officer in June, 1982.

His previous appointments include Air Officer Commanding, NAF Logistics Command. Maj.-Gen. Monguno (rtd.), hails from Borno State and was a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 21st Regular Course.

Before his retirement from the Army, he held several command and staff appointments, including: Commander, Guards Brigade, Deputy Commandant, National Defence College, Chief of Defence Intelligence, Chief of Defence Logistics and Commander, Training and Doctrine Command.

The statement said the new Service Chiefs would hold their appointments in acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate. Buhari thanked the outgoing Service Chiefs and NSA for their services to the nation and wished them well in their future endeavours.

The new Service Chiefs met with the President for some hours after their appointments. When approached by State House Correspondents as they emerged from the office of the President after the meeting, the Service Chiefs refused to comment.

They simply walked to their waiting vehicles and drove out of the Presidential Villa. Before they were relieved of their positions yesterday, the former Service Chiefs were at the Presidential Villa earlier in the morning, where they met with Buhari. There had been strong indications that the Service Chiefs, appointed by Jonathan would be sacked shortly after the inauguration of Buhari on May 29 following calls by many Nigerians to that effect.

They were accused of incapable of tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in the country. A top military source at the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, told our correspondent that even though the sack was long expected, it was too sudden. Minimah, the sacked Chief of Army was holding a high-powered meeting with top Army officers under the auspices of the COAS second Quarter Conference, 2015, when they heard about the sack on social media.

The conference had in attendance all Principal Staff Officers, Army, in DHQ, General Officers Commanding, GOCs, Departmental Chiefs at the Army Headquarters, AHQ, Commanders of Joint Task Force, JTF, Special Tasks Force, STF and Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF among others.

The source said Buhari was very uncomfortable with the conference, which led to his sudden decision to hurriedly ask that the announcement be made and changes effected before the conference was over.

Before going in for the crucial aspect of the conference, there was an order that no telephones or recording materials were allowed during the brainstorming session that was done behind closed-door.

The closed-door session was to get briefs and discuss matters of military intelligence and operations, with the Chief of Military Intelligence and that of Operations anchored under the supervision of the COAS, as usual.

The source said the session was going on smoothly, when officers became very disturbed, whispering to one another when news started filtering in over the sack as the COAS was busy discharging his duty.

At the COAS conference, Minimah had praised Buhari for being supportive and reassuring to them on the war against Boko Haram. “I wish to thank our CI- C (Commander-In-Chief) for his continuous support to the Nigerian Army and indeed the Armed Forces of our great nation.

“His sustained effort at national, regional and international levels towards addressing insecurity in the country since assumption of office has reassured us that victory over the Boko Haram Terrorists is in sight,” he said.

Only on Thursday last week, Dasuki came on air for the first time since President Jonathan left office. To address Buhari’s policy reversal on the dismantling of military checkpoints, which raised the hope of his likely retention.