President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday appointed new service chiefs, finally letting go of the Chief of Defence Chief, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, after the four had spent five years and five months in office.
Major-General Leo Irabor replaced General Abayomi Olonisakin as Chief of Defence Staff; Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao replaced Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo replaced Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff; while General Ibrahim Attahiru replaced Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as Chief of Army Staff.
Below is a brief profile of the new officers.
Major General Leo Irabor (Chief of Defence Staff)
Major General Leo Irabor was born on October 5, 1965. He is from Ika South of Delta State and he is a member of regular course 34 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
He was once the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole and later took over as the Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) before he was on Tuesday named the Chief of Defence Staff.
Major General Ibrahim Attahiru (Chief of Army Staff)
Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, with Army Number 8406, was born on August 10, 1966. He is from Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State and a member of the Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy. Before his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff, he was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.
He was also a former Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole. He took over from Major General Leo Irabor in 2017. However, Major General Attahiru was removed for failing to stop Boko Haram. Then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, had given Attahiru 40 days to capture Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, dead or alive. He failed to accomplish the task and was removed without any posting.
Air Vice-Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao (Chief of Air Staff)
Air Vice-Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao was born on 14 Sep 1965 at Enugu. He hails from Oshogbo in Osun State.
He was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force on January 19, 1984.
After several years in service, he replaces Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who has served as Chief of Air Staff since July 2015.
Rear Admiral A. Z. Gambo (Chief of Naval Staff)
Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo was born on 22 Apr 66 and hails from Nasarawa LGA in Kano State.
He enlisted into the Nigerian Navy on 24 Sep 84 as a member of Regular Course 36 and was commissioned Sub-Lieutenant on 24 Sep 88.
He is an Underwater Warfare specialist with a sub specialisation in Intelligence. The senior officer has attended several military courses which include, Sub-Technical course and Officers Long course both at NNS QUORRA.
He also attended Junior Division 48/89 and Senior Course 26 both at AFCSC Jaji. Other courses attended include the National Defence Course at the South African National Defence College.
Until his recent appointment as the CNS, he was the Director of Procurement at the Defence Space Administration.
