Shake-up as Nigerian Army gets new GOCs, Provost Marshall, CMI, others

• Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede approved posting of senior officers to strengthen leadership and operational effectiveness
• Redeployment includes Principal Staff Officers, General Officers Commanding, Corps Commanders, training institution Commandants, and Brigade Commanders nationwide

Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), has approved the posting and appointment of some senior officers to key command, instructional, and staff positions in the Nigerian Army’s various formations and units.

Lieutenant Colonel Appolonia Anele, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, made this statement available to defence correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

It stated that this was a strategic decision to strengthen leadership and reposition the Nigerian Army (NA) for greater operational effectiveness.

According to the statement, the redeployment encompasses a few Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) at the Army Headquarters (AHQ), two General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Corps Commanders, Commandants of training institutions, and Brigade Commanders, among other appointments critical to the Nigerian Army’s operational and administrative structure.

Some of the senior officers appointed as Principal Staff Officers at the Army Headquarters include Major General AA Adeyinka, who was posted from the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport (NACST) to the Department of Army Logistics and appointed Chief of Logistics (Army); Major General AA Adekeye, posted from the AHQ Department of Standard and Evaluation to the AHQ Department of Personnel Management as Chief of Personnel Management (Army); and Major General TB Ugiagbe, redeployed from the Headquarters Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps to the AHQ Department of Standard and Evaluation and appointed Chief of Standard and Evaluation.

Others are Major General AA Idris, moved from Defence Headquarters to the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps and appointed Chief of Military Intelligence (Army), and Major General MO Erebulu, redeployed from the Department of Special Services and Programmes to the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police and appointed Provost Marshal (Army).

Furthermore, Major General EA Anaryu from the Defence Space Administration has been redeployed and appointed Corps Commander, Supply and Transport, while Major General SA Akesode has been moved from the Office of the National Security Adviser to the African Union Verification Mission in the Tigray Region, Ethiopia, as Head of Mission. Major General JE Osifo was posted from the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Accounts to the Nigerian Army Finance Corporation as Director General.