Reps confirm Farouk Yahaya as Chief of Army Staff

The House of Representatives has approved Farouk Yahaya, a major general, as the Chief of Army Staff.

The confirmation followed the consideration of the report of the committee on defence on Tuesday.

The chairman of the committee, Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos), presented the report and was considered by the Committee of the Whole.

The committee had, on 15 June, screened Mr Yahaya for the position following his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The new chief of army staff was appointed by Mr Buhari on May 27 to replace Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, who died in an air crash alongside 10 other officers and men of the army, on May 21, while on an official trip to Kaduna State.

The president had sent the confirmation request to in House in compliance with section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Speaking on the report, Mr Benson said the nominee answered all the questions by the committee.

“Mr Chairman, the COAS came to the committee, and he was grilled on local content in army’s procurement, funding of the military, the relationship with civil authorities and the relationship with the parliament.

"The nominee gave apt answers to our questions, having been battle-tested hence, we recommend the nominee be confirmed.”

The committee of the whole, chaired by deputy speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), approved the nomination.