Drama as Army General refuses to hand over to successor

There is an ongoing controversy at the Defence Industrial Corporation of Nigeria, DICON, as the outgoing director-general, Major General E.R. Chioba has refused to hand over to the newly appointed director-general of the corporation, Brigadier General Augustine Odidi.

It was gathered that a mild drama broke out when the newly appointed DG, Brigadier General Odidi went to Kaduna, the headquarters of DICON, to take over from Major General Chioba, who was appointed DG in February 2013.

General Chioba, it was gathered, told General Odidi that he was not ready to vacate the seat.

Sources told Nation that Chioba’s refusal to hand over to the new DG was based on general order to put on hold all recent postings done in the Nigerian Army on the eve of the exit of the former Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah.

However, other sources squealed that the outgoing DG may be afraid of handing over to Odidi, who is known to be a disciplined personnel.

Odidi was appointed as the new DG by President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter signed by the Military Secretary, Army (MSA) Major General I.I. Abbas and was expected to resume duty on July 20, 2015.

Before his appointment, Odidi who was promoted Brigadier General on January 4, 2008, was the deputy director, Production, Department of Logistics, Defence Headquarters Abuja.

DICON was established to produce small arms and ammunition for the use of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies. It also produces machinery spare parts for industries and other products for civilian use.

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