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Service chiefs
tenure extended ...by six months
chris agbambu
Deputy Bureau Chief, Abuja
The Presidency may
have extended the tenure of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Alexander
Ogomudia and other service chiefs by another six months.
Informed military
sources disclosed to Saturday Independent that the extension of the tenure by
President Olusegun Obasanjo was to enable the service chiefs complete the
on-going professionalisation and re-training programmes of the Armed Forces.
The directive,
according to sources, was however in spite of alleged intense lobbying going on in the military and
political circles for the replacement of the service chiefs.
It was gathered
authoritatively that some military top shots whose kinsmen are in positions of
authority and power in government, had gone through them to lobby for the plum
job of service chiefs.
Military sources
also disclosed that some of the ambitious senior officers had even gone further
to compile names of loyal officers to they would want to work with if they
succeeded in the bid.
The military sources,
added that most of the senior officers, who had been assured of the jobs, had
also been warming up for the announcement of the names before the end of the
year.
However, presidency
sources, disclosed to Saturday Independent that President Obasanjo was not in a
hurry to replace the service chiefs as he believed they had done creditably
within the limited available resources.
It was also
gathered that the president had in some instances, jokingly asked the service
chiefs why their juniors wanted to take over their jobs.
The sources added
that the extension of their tenure was necessitated by the notice of retirement
filed by the service chiefs to go by the end of December 2004, having attended
the mandatory service year of 35.
Saturday
Independent also reliably gathered that some of the service chiefs would have
left the service by October 31, while others were billed to leave by December
31 before the extension.
Military terms and
conditions of service stipulate that an officer who has served 35 years of
service or is 55 years of age (which ever comes first) is due for retirement.
However, there is a
proviso that service chiefs, who are political appointees can only go at the
instance of the president, as such rules may not affect them.
The service chiefs
were appointed in April 2001, while the chief of Defence Staff General,
Ogomudia, was promoted as Chief of Defence Staff, from the position of Chief of
Army Staff and was promoted to a four-star general, while Lt. General Martin
Luther Agwai, who was the Deputy Adviser to the U.N Secretary - General
on Peace keeping was appointed to succeed him.
Agwai was also
promoted to the rank of a three-star general.
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