Molly Kilete, Abuja
Indications emerged, at the weekend, that President Muhammadu Buhari may have extended the tenure of the service chiefs.
The service chiefs include the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, Chief of Naval Staff, and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar.
Daily Sun gathered that the president extended their tenure by six months, which will expire by December.
It was gathered that the extension may not be unconnected to a job well done by the service chiefs for ensuring law and order and peace of the country in the just-concluded general election.
It was gathered that the extension takes effect from July.
Security sources who declined to be named confirmed to Daily Sun, yesterday, that the president has the powers to extend the tenure of the service chiefs and that he can only do so for six months; which he can decide to renew at expiration.
The service chiefs were appointed in 2015 but their tenure expired in 2018.
The president subsequently renewed their tenure, in a statement by the Public Relations Officer to the Defence minister, Colonel Tukur Gusau.
The extension, according to Gusau, was largely based on the efforts of the military chiefs in tackling terrorism in the North East and addressing other security issues. Several attempts by this newspaper, to speak with Gusau, on the matter, on his mobile line, yesterday, were unsuccessful.