Major General Olufemi Oluyede Takes Office as Acting Chief of Army Staff

Major General Olufemi Oluyede Takes Office as Acting Chief of Army Staff

Major General Olufemi Oluyede has officially assumed the role of Acting Chief of Army Staff during a handover ceremony at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

The Defence Headquarters shared photos from the ceremony on X.com, captioned: “Formal Taking Over Ceremony of the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Major General OO Oluyede.”

Coretvnews previously reported that Oluyede was set to take on his new duties today. He was appointed in an acting capacity by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, pending the return of the current Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, who is currently indisposed.

Before this appointment, Oluyede served as the 56th Commander of the Nigerian Army’s elite Infantry Corps in Jaji, Kaduna. The 56-year-old general and Lagbaja are coursemates from the 39th Regular Course.

The announcement of Oluyede’s appointment followed a recent statement from the Defence Headquarters indicating that appointing an acting COAS was not recognized under the Harmonised Armed Forces Act. However, a notice signed by Group Captain Chris Erondu confirmed the handover ceremony would take place at the Defence Headquarters conference room at 10 am.

Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa was present at the ceremony.