The chief of defence staff is the highest military ranking Officer of the Nigerian armed forces. The position was first established in April 1980 under the provision of the 1979 constitution. One thing you need to know is that the position is occupied by the most senior commissioned Officer who is appointed by the president of Nigeria.
As we all know, following the recent Security crisis in Nigeria, the calls for the resignation of the previous service chiefs heightened and a few days ago, they were all replaced.
The current Nigerian Chief of defence staff is now Major General Leo Irabor.
Major General Lucky Eluonye Onyenuchea Irabor was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 26, 2021 as the new chief of defence staff in the country. However, many of us don’t even know what his job description is.
His duty is to formulate and execute policies, programmes towards the highest attainment of National Security and operational competence of the Nigerian Armed forces namely: Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Navy. But, some of us even think he reports directly to president Muhammadu Buhari. The truth is, he doesn’t.
Major General Lucky Irabor does not report directly to president Muhammadu Buhari, rather, he gathers intelligence reports from the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval staff and chief of Air staff and reports directly to the Honourable minister of defence who in turn reports directly to president Muhammadu Buhari.
The current minister of defence is Bashir Salihi Magashi. He is a retired Army Major General who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari August 21, 2019.