Oladayo Amao, chief of air staff (CAS), has asked personnel
to be apolitical and remain neutral in the elections scheduled to take place in
February and March.
According to a statement issued on Saturday by Wapkerem
Maigida, NAF director of public relations, Amao spoke on Friday during an
operational visit to the NAF institute of safety and 209 quick response group
in Ipetu-Ijesa, Osun state.
Amao said personnel are to protect the constitution and
ensure that public perception of the force is faultless.
“Commenting on the upcoming general election, the CAS urged
NAF personnel to remain apolitical but only exercise their legal franchise
which is the constitutional right to vote for any candidate of their choice,”
the statement reads.
“We must continue to
maintain our integrity and neutrality as a service.
“He further urged NAF personnel to remember that as
custodians of Nigeria’s constitution, they must ensure that public perception of the NAF and the Armed
Forces of Nigeria remains positive and unblemished.”
Amao said NAF has operationalised the usage of all its new
and modern platforms towards tackling terrorism and insurgency in the country.
He said the new and modern air assets have been
“instrumental in the feats being recorded against terrorists and insurgents”.
The air chief said the successes recorded by the NAF in the
theatres of operation were due to the recently acquired JF-17 Thunder aircraft,
A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, and the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles.
He explained that the military was winning the war against
terrorism in the country with the aid of modern platforms.
He said, “more still needs to be done to completely decimate
and flush out the remnants of terrorists still preying on soft targets”.
“He, however, warned that being complacent at this point
would be harmful to ongoing operations and called for more focus, vigilance,
and caution,” Maigida said.
“The CAS revealed that the NAF is expecting the delivery of
additional new platforms which the president has approved for the service.”
He said the air assets included two Beechcraft King Air 360,
four Diamond DA-62 surveillance aircraft, three Wing Loong II UCAVs, and six
T-129 ATAK helicopters.
According to him, there are ongoing acquisitions of 12
Agusta 109 Trekker multi-role helicopters and 24 M-346 attack aircraft.
“Some of these additional platforms are expected to be
delivered to the NAF before the end of the first quarter of 2023. This would
further boost NAF’s air power employment and projection capabilities as well as
air combat training,” he added.
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