President Bola Tinubu has postponed the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and ordered a seven-day of national mourning in honour of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja.
The meeting was initially slated for today (Wednesday), but had to be postponed in honour of the late Lagbaja, whose death the president officially announced earlier today.
It was gathered that the postponement of the FEC meeting was indefinite as the president was reported to have noted that a new date would be announced later.
Special Adviser (Media & Strategy) to the President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, said Tinubu has also “ordered flags to be flown at half-staff nationwide for seven days in honour of the departed general.”
Lagbaja, born on February 28, 1968, in Ilobu, Osun State, was appointed in June, 2023 as the 27th COAS by President Bola Tinubu.
Makinde mourns, commiserates with Tinubu, Army, Osun Govt
Meanwhile, Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has described the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, as a sad loss to the country.
The governor, who described Lagbaja as a patriot and one of the finest military officers produced by the country, expressed his condolences to the President/Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Senator Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Army.
Makinde equally commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased COAS as well as the government and people of Osun State on the demise of their illustrious son.
The governor, in a release by his Special Adviser (Media), Sulaimon Olanrewaju, prayed to Allah to grant repose to soul of the late Lt. General Lagbaja.
Adeleke laments demise of Lagbaja
In the same vein, Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has described as a sad loss the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoheed Lagbaja, describing his transition as “a huge misfortune.”
“A huge misfortune has befallen the people of Osun State, the Nigerian Army and the great Lagbaja Family of Ilobu. We lost a rare breed, a gentleman and a true patriot to the cold hand of death.
“Our late brother has a big vision of operational reforms for the Nigerian Army. He launched out and commenced the implementation of root and branch reform of the Nigerian Army.
“Within his short stint in office, he enforced professionalism and battled terrorists and bandits with terrifying fierceness.
“Our late brother was a very hardworking officer, a true workaholic, a fierce soldier, a replica of the traditional army officer with an ambitious plan for modernisation and integration of the Nigerian Army.
“In my last encounter with him, he exuded hope and aspirations of a better Nigeria with the military as a stabilizer and unifier of the federation.
“In late General Lagbaja, we had a great military leader with the poise, the confidence and the firmness to realise the vision of a new Nigerian Army. Unfortunately, the end came suddenly.
“We surrendered to the will of the Almighty creator. I commiserate with the Commander-in-Chief, President Bola Tinubu, the men and women of the Nigerian Armed Forces, my people of Ilobu and the great Lagbaja Family. We mourn together on this sad occasion.
On behalf of the people and Government of Osun state, we extend commiseration to Mrs Mariya Lagbaja and the two children,” Governor Adeleke noted in a statement he personally signed.
