The Presidency has provided more information and clarity about the reasons for the nation’s service chiefs’ dismissals and replacements by Tinubu.
The Presidency claimed that the military reorganisation was an attempt to “inject new direction” into the armed forces, but denied that it was related to a rumoured coup plot.
Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, told newsmen on Saturday that Tinubu has the right to alter the military’s leadership.
“Service chiefs can be hired and fired by the President. He is the Commander-in-Chief. He has the power to hire and fire,” Onanuga said.
The President had announced significant changes to the military hierarchy earlier on Friday.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, named General Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa.
Tinubu tasked the incoming service chiefs with improving the professionalism, alertness, and camaraderie that characterise Nigeria’s Armed Forces in order to justify the trust placed in them.
The development comes just one week after Sahara Reporters, an online news outlet, released an article claiming that certain military commanders had conspired to overthrow President Tinubu.
The report, which went viral on October 19, stated that the cancellation of the Independence Day military parade was a part of attempts to quell internal dissatisfaction within the military and connected the incarceration of sixteen military personnel to the alleged coup.
The Defence Headquarters, however, refuted the report.
Why Tinubu sacked service chiefs — Presidency
Tope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, responded to the rumours by stating that the action came after two years of consistent operations under the previous leaders.
He stated that the President’s intention “to inject new direction, vision, vigour and energy” into the military was reflected in the action.
“This is not a reaction to any rumour of coups. He is exercising his powers. The service chiefs have done two years,” Ajayi said.
“We are fighting security issues — Boko Haram in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, IPOB and ESN in the South-East, kidnapping in the South-West, and other crises in the North-Central,” he added.
Ajayi emphasised that the President’s action was legal.
He added that money from other important areas had been depleted by the nation’s recent high security spending.
Ajayi went on to say that the President’s choice was in line with the constitutional clause stating that all appointments are made at the President’s discretion.
“In the last 15 years, look at our national budget — security taking the largest chunk. The President wants to deal with this matter once and for all, so that the money going into defence expenditure will be better deployed to fund critical infrastructure like power, roads, broadband, education, and healthcare,” he said.
“Every appointee of government, whether you are minister, head of agency, or service chief, serves at the pleasure of the President. Nobody has a secure tenure. The only two people in the Federal Government who have a guarantee of tenure are the President and the Vice President,” he explained.
Despite the explanations, speculations linking the shake-up to the rumoured alleged coup plot have continued to grow.
On X, Nigerians also drew connections between the timing of the announcement and the reports of arrests within the military.
Mixed reactions trail appointments
Col. Yomi Dare (retd), a former Nigerian Army Director of Legal Services, called the appointment of the new service chiefs a boost to morale.
He said, “There is no security implication other than that the outgone officers have done their bit. The new service chiefs, by virtue of their appointment, must now be motivated to work effectively. They should assess what their predecessors achieved and, in unspoken words, learn from what they did and failed to do.”
Similarly, Mike Ejiofor, a former director of the Department of State Services, pointed out that although the President had the constitutional authority to implement such changes, the actual obstacle was still financing and operational circumstances.
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