DHQ denies alleged illegal tenure elongation of course mates

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said there was no iota of truth as regards extension of the length of service for military officers.Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General John Enenche, while reacting to the allegations that Service Chiefs in the Armed Forces were illegally extending military careers of their course mates, pointed out that “Extant guidelines and policies are always followed as laid out in the Terms and Conditions of Service (TACOS) when the need arises.”

Enenche said, quite a good number of the officers mentioned in the article are no longer in service, adding that only very few are still in service, in the interest of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, which is in line with Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers, 2012, Paragraph 02.10 (d).

He said: “Extension of service for officers can only be approved by the service council/board comprising the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chief, Service Director at Ministry of Defence and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence. It can also be at the discretion of the Commander in Chief.’’

From the foregoing, I wish to state that there was no act of illegality perpetuated by the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval staff or Chief of the Air Staff, regarding extending the length of service for officers.’’