FG reveals why Buhari appointed Yahaya as Chief of Army Staff
- More facts are emerging on why Major-General Farouk Yahaya was appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff
- The minister of defence, Major-General Bashir Salihi-Magashi (rtd) has given insights into what informed the decision of the president
- Salihi-Magashi noted that competence and ability to deliver on the job were uppermost in the president's mind while choosing a new army chief
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The federal government has disclosed the rationale behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Major General Faruk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff.
The government made the clarification via the minister of defence, Major-General Bashir Salihi-Magashi (rtd) in a statement issued on Friday, May 28.
The statement issued by the minister's spokesman, Mohammad Abdulkadri, and seen by Legit.ng, said President Buhari's choice was fuelled by patriotism and the need for national cohesion.
Source: Twitter
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The minister said:
“President Buhari has expediently put national interest above ethnic and religious chauvinism by fulfilling all requirements necessary.”
The defence minister also expressed optimism in the professional pedigree of the COAS in sustaining the trajectory of taking offensive and aggressive campaigns to the camps, corridors, and cells of Nigeria's adversaries with a view to obliterating them.
Recall that the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Major-General Farouk Yahaya on Thursday, May 27 paid his last respects to Late Lt-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru.
Major-General Yahaya paid homage to Late Attahiru after signing the condolence register at the theatre command headquarters of Operation Hadin Kai in Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
After signing the condolence register, the new COAS, in typical military fashion, stood at ease and saluted the photo of Late Attahiru placed at the entrance of command headquarters.
Legit.ng had earlier reported that Late Attahiru from Kaduna state becomes the second Nigerian Chief of Army Staff to die in a plane crash while in office.
The first was Lt. Colonel Joseph Akahan who was Chief of Army Staff from May 1967 until May 1968, when he was killed in a helicopter crash during the Nigerian Civil War.
After his death, Akahan was replaced as COAS by General Hassan Katsina.
Source: Legit.ng
