The acting Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, will assume duties at the Army Headquarters in on Friday, November 1, 2024.

The Acting Army Chief was appointed by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, pending the return of the indisposed substantive Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, who is currently on medical leave.

Major General Oluyede’s appointment came days after the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had claimed that the appointment of an acting Chief of Army Staff was alien to the Harmonised Armed Forces Act.

The DHQ, in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, on October 21, said no such appointment exists within the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

The rebuttal came after several reports cited a social media post by one Jackson Ude claiming that Lt. Gen. Lagbaja had died of cancer.

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Reacting to the post on X, the Nigerian Army also marked the screenshot of Ude’s post as fake news.

However, in a notice signed by Group Captain Chris Erondu on behalf of the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, it was stated that the handover ceremony would be held at the Defence Headquarters conference room at 10 am on Friday.

The notice read, “The formal taking over ceremony of the newly appointed acting Chief of Army Staff, Major General Olufemi Oluyede is scheduled for tomorrow…”