The Senate, on Wednesday, screened the acting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, behind closed doors.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Sen. Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, before the screening, recalled that the senate, had, at its sitting on Tuesday, read President Bola Tinubu’s request urging them to confirm Oluyede’s appointment as chief of army staff.
Yar’Adua commiserated with Oluyede on the death of the late Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja.
He said that Lagbaja made significant strides in improving the welfare of the army and brought innovations, such as the Nigerian Army Aviation.
“It is a known fact that the nation is currently bedevilled by a multiplicity of security challenges requiring cogent and urgent solutions.
“I want to use this opportunity to commend the gallantry of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army and the armed forces in general for the successes recorded so far in the war against insurgency and other criminalities within the country.
“This they did to the extent that some of them laid their lives for that,” he said.
Yar’Adua said that the screening, therefore, tended to bring to bear Oluyede’s professional skills, experiences and expertise.
This, he said, was based on his strategic knowledge and vision toward defending Nigeria from external aggression, maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land.
“Your abilities to offer proposals toward finding solutions to military funding and welfare of personnel will be of interest to this country,” the senator said. (NAN)