Society Gists

Aide de Camp (ADC) to late President Umaru Yar’Adua Brigadier-Genreral Mustapha Onoyiveta was Monday relieved of his appointment as Chief of Staff to the Chief of Army Staff, Lr. General Kenneth Minimah.

Onoyiveta’s removal, military sources told Pointblanknews.com followed months of investigations into how he allegedly mismanaged billions of Naira meant for soldiers’ operations particularly in the troubled North east.

Military sources told Pointblanknews.com that Onoyiveta has been moved to the Department of Civil- Military Affairs (DCMA), a redeployment described as being ‘a heartbeat away from retirement”.

Some officers described have fauled the new posting as a slap on the wrist for an officer whose actions, they claimed, led to several operational lapses causing the death of several officers and men.

As Chief of Staff to the Army Chief, Onoyiveta reportedly wielded tremendous influence, helping to shape several army operational decisions, in addition to determining which army commander saw his boss.

He had reportedly driven a wedge between the two army chiefs he served and top army commanders by frustrating them each time they sought to see their chiefs.

Several General Officers Commanding (GOCs) had reportedly formed the habit of staying away from Generals Ihejirika and Minimah to save themselves the ordeal of shabby treatment in the hands of Onoyiveta, who is a rank beneath GOCs.

“This greatly dampened the morale of officers and men. The huge losses suffered in recent times in the hands of Boko Haram terrorists is a direct fallout of this disconnect between (army) Chief and the officers under his command,” offered a top army officer.

Pointblanknews.com investigations revealed that shortly after Yar’Adua’s death in 2010, Onoyiveta and Tilde were recommended for compulsory retirement for their “unprofessional” handling of the late president illness.

Both security aides were particulaly blamed for pulling the February 24, 2010 stunt of smuggling a crated Yar’Adua into Nigeria under the cover of darkness.

They succeeded in blocking the then acting President Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, among other top government officials from seeing Yar’Adua.
Onoyiveta was said to have attempted to block President Goodluck Jonathan from chairing the maiden Executive council meeting after being sworn in as acting president.

Jonathan’s security aides had tactfully averted a showdown with Yar’Adua’s ADC by cancelling the historic council meeting.

The Department of State Security Services (DSS), had complied with the recommendation and retired Tilde. Curiously, the Army turned a blind eye and, instead, promoted Onoyiveta from the rank of Colonel to Brigadier-General.

Shortly after President Jonathan appointed Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika army chief, the army headquarters appointed Onoyiveta his Chief of Staff.

Onoyiveta and Tilde were blamed for successfully keeping Nigerians in the dark on Yar’Adua’s illness, and exploited the late president’s absence to commit monumental fraud in the Presidency.

During Yar’Adua’s incapacitation, both security aides pulled another stunt by claiming their sick boss appended his signature to a supplematary budget. At the time, Yar’Adua had been pronounced clinically dead by medical experts in Saudi Arabia.

Both men were also blamed for. helping several politicians secure, in Yar’Adua’s name, appointment as heads of key government agencies.

Upon Yar’Adua’s inauguration in May 2007, he appointed Onoyiveta, then a Lt. Colonel, as his ADC.

In December of the same year Onoyiveta was promoted Colonel. At an elaborate ceremony to decorate Onoyiveta with his new rank, Yar’Adua had charged his ADC to “work hard to make the rank of General.”