By Abiola Olawale
The House of Representatives on Thursday screened and confirmed Lit-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede as the substantive Chief of Army Staff.
His confirmation came after he was interviewed and screened by the Joint Committees on Defence and Army on Wednesday.
At the resumption of plenary on Thursday, the committee Chairman, Hon Babajimi Benson, submitted the report.
Benson said Oluyede passed all the requirements to become the substantive Chief of Army Staff.
Following the submission of the report, the house voted in favour of Oluyede, after which the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary, hit the gravel on the confirmation.
It would be recalled that Oluyede was nominated by President Bola Tinubu as the Acting COAS due to the ill health of the former Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, who later passed away at the age of 56 years old.
The New Diplomat reports that before his appointment, Oluyede served as the 56th commander of the infantry corps of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1992 and rose to the position of major general in September 2020.
Oluyede and Lagbaja were coursemates and members of the 39th regular course.
Recently, Oluyede was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.He has participated in several operations, including the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) mission in Liberia, operation Harmony IV in Bakassi, and operation Hadin Kai in the north-east theatre of operations.
He was also the commander of the 27 task force brigade.