Bashir Magashi, minister of defence, says President
Muhammadu Buhari considered national interest above ethnicity in the
appointment of Faruk Yahaya as the new chief of army staff.
The president had appointed Yahaya, a major-general, on
Thursday to replace Ibrahim Attahiru, the army chief who died in a plane
crash.
Before his appointment, Yahaya was the theatre commander of
the counter-terrorism military outfit in the north-east which is code-named
operation Hadin Kai.
Some critics had accused the president of been biased with
the appointment. But Magashi, in a statement through Mohammad Abdulkadri, his
spokesperson, said Yahaya was appointed based on merit and his track records.
“He is an organic
infantry general who is tested and trusted to actualise the national
aspirations to restore peace in the dark spots and areas of insurgency,
kidnapping, and banditry, as well as other allied threats to the nation’s
corporate existence,” he said.
“With the appointment of General Yahaya, President Buhari
has expediently put national interest above ethnic and religious chauvinism by
fulfilling all requirements necessary. These include his unblemished track
records of service, professional, command, and operational competencies among
other yardsticks that culminated into his emergence as most suitably qualified
new army boss.”
The minister commended Buhari “for the well thought-out
strategic appointment of Yahaya as a replacement for the late Attahiru.”
He also said he is confident in Yahaya’s capability in
sustaining the trajectory of taking offensive and aggressive campaigns to the
camps, corridors, and cells of the adversaries to obliterate them.
The minister, while pledging the ministry’s support for the
new army chief, said plans were underway by the federal government to
immortalise Attahiru and others who died in the plane crash.
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