—Outgoing DICON boss ‘refuses to hand over’
By Jibrin Baba Ndace
Abuja
The Army last night raised eyebrows among defence analysts over its abrupt reversal of the appointment of Brigadier General Augustine Okhomeh Odidi as the new Director General of the Defence Industrial Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).
This comes just as controversy surrounded the alleged refusal of the outgoing DG of the corporation, Major General E.R. Chioba, to hand over his office to Odidi, who had waited for two weeks to assume duties.
Odidi was appointed as the new DG of DICON by President Muhammadu Buhari, in a letter signed by the Military Secretary, Army (MS,A), Major General II Abbas, and was expected to assume duties on Monday, July 20, 2015.
The appointment was made during the tenure of the immediate past Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Kenneth Minimah, but the posting got stalled following the appointment of Major General T.Y. Buratai as the new COAS by the President.
The President sacked Minimah and other military service chiefs on July 13 in a move seen as an attempt to give fillip to his government’s war against the terrorism ravaging the north-east and some other parts of the country.
The sacked service chiefs, appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan, were believed to have failed to nip the Boko Haram insurgency in the bud.
Sources told Blueprint that a mild drama ensued when Odidi went to the headquarters of DICON in Kaduna to take over from Chioba, who has been DG since February 2013.
However, July 20 was declared as public holiday due to the Muslim festival of Eid el-Fitr, and Chioba was said to have been at his official residence in the Government Reservation Area (GRA) when Odidi arrived.
When they eventually spoke, Chioba, our correspondent reliably gathered, flatly told Odidi that he was not going to hand over to him.
While some sources said Chioba’s alleged refusal to hand over was based on a general order from Army Headquarters to put on hold all recent postings done in the Army on the eve of Minimah’s exit, other sources maintained that the outgoing DG may be afraid of handing over to Odidi, who is known to be a straightforward and no-nonsense officer.
It was believed that Odidi had intended to “unearth any dirty deals that might have taken place at DICON.”
A defence and security expert who spoke to Blueprint on condition of anonymity said yesterday that the “refusal to hand over DICON to Odidi was “a mystery.”
The expert wondered why some appointments made by President Buhari were flouted, citing the case of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as an example.
“Look at the leadership tussle at NIMASA; it came as a result of some people flouting the President’s directive.
“Unless General Chioba has received the nod of the authorities in Abuja, he wouldn’t dare refuse to hand over,” the source said, adding, “I suspect that some high-wire politics is going on.”
But responding to Blueprint’s enquiries over the controversy, the acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani K. Usman, revealed that Odidi’s appointment to head DICON “has been deleted.” In common parlance it means that the appointment has been reversed.
He did not explain further.
Born on March 4, 1961 in Kano but hails from Agenebode in Etsako East local Government area of Edo state, Odidi joined the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, as a member of the 27th Regular Combatant Course in 1980.
The present Chief of Army Staff was behind him as he was in Course 29.
At NDA, Odidi won the best graduating Army Cadet Silver Medal which was awarded to him by the then President Shehu Shagari and he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant and posted as member of the Nigerian Army Electrical and Mechanical Corps (NAEME).
Before his appointment as DG of DICON, 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.
