A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, has been appointed as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Benin Republic.


The former Defence Chief, Gen Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (rtd), was appointed as the head of mission to Cameroon.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on Tuesday, presented letters of credence to the ex-service chiefs at a brief ceremony in Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement by Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, information officer in the ministry.

“The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama today 22 June 2021, presented Letters of Credence to the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Cameroon, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Retired) and the Ambassador-Designate of Nigeria to the Republic of Benin, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai (Retired).

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs during the brief ceremony congratulated the immediate past service chiefs on their appointment by Mr. President and called on them to deploy their wealth of experience to promote Nigeria’s interest during their tour of duty in countries of accreditation.”

However, the statement was silent on the posting of the other former Service chiefs, Vice Admiral Ibok- Ette Ibas (retired) former Chief of Naval Staff; Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retired), ex-Chief of Air Staff and and Air Vice Marshal Muhammad S. Usman (Rtd), former Chief of Defense Intelligence.