December 09, (THEWILL) – Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede has officially assumed office as the 24th Substantive Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
This follows a brief ceremony held on Monday in Abuja, as part of a longstanding military tradition symbolising the transfer of authority.
Marking the beginning of a new era, the transfer of power saw the symbolic lowering and hoisting of the command flag at Army Headquarters.
Gen. Oluyede was appointed as the Acting Chief of Army Staff on October 30, following the illness of Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja. General Lagbaja died on November 5, 2024.
President Bola Tinubu, on November 22, in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, requested the approval of the lawmakers for the appointment of Oluyede as substantive CoAS. This, he said, was in accordance with the provision of Section 218(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act.
His appointment was formalised after confirmation by the Senate and House of Representatives.
Before his elevation, Oluyede was the 56th Commander of the elite Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army, headquartered in Jaji, Kaduna.
A veteran of numerous operations, he has been a key figure in advancing the army’s operational capacity.
The 56-year-old officer is a graduate of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), where he was a member of the 39th Regular Course alongside his late predecessor, Lagbaja.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1992 (retroactively effective from 1987), Oluyede rose to the rank of Major General in September 2020.
The newly minted Chief of Army Staff faces numerous challenges, including counterinsurgency operations in the North-East, tackling banditry in the North-West, and managing other security threats across the nation.
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