Federal Government has appointed and deployed former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai (rtd) to Benin Republic.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (rtd), is the head of mission to Cameroon.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, at a brief ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, presented the letters of credence to the ex-service chiefs.
Information Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kimiebi Ebienfa, disclosed this in a statement.
The statement read, “The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama today 22 June 2021, presented Letters of Credence to the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Cameroon, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Retired) and the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Benin, Lt.Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai (Retired).
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs during the brief ceremony congratulated the immediate past service chiefs on their appointment by Mr. President and call on them to deploy their wealth of experience to promote Nigeria’s interest during their tour of duty in countries of accreditation.”
But the statement was silent on the posting of the other two former service chiefs, Vice Admiral Ibok- Ette Ibas (retired), former Chief of Naval Staff; Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retired), ex-Chief of Air Staff and and Air Vice Marshal Muhammad S. Usman (rtd), former Chief of Defence Intelligence.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on February 4, 2021, appointed the “retired” service chiefs as a non-career ambassadors.
The president appointed the ex-service chiefs in 2015 and refused to bow to the pressure of relieving them of their duties until they “voluntarily resigned.”
Before their “retirement,” there had been widespread calls for their removal over failure to contain the security challenges facing the country, which critics said became worse under their watch.
But their appointment as Nigeria’s ambassadors to foreign countries sparked public outrage, with calls on the Senate to reject their nominations.
On February 23, 2021, Senate confirmed their nominations, not minding Nigerians’ opposition to the move.