Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, the new Chief of Army Staff, has expressed his readiness to lead an army motivated by discipline and professionalism.

Lagbaja made the remarks while addressing a large group of senior military officers and chiefs of various divisions within the army at the handover ceremony at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

Under his predecessor, the Army experienced unparalleled cautious resource management and military hardware procurement, Major General Lagbaja said.

The Punch newspaper reported that the 23rd Chief of Army Staff vowed to build on the legacy of his predecessor, encouraging those who are leaving the military not to deny the Nigerian Army the opportunity to draw on their experiences whenever the need arises.

“I promise to run an army that will be driven by discipline and professionalism,” he said.

In his part, the outgoing Chief of Army Staff, eLieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, said the Boko Haram insurgency was at its peak when he took office in 2021, but he is leaving the situation better than he met it.

Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, the new Chief of Army Staff, was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy on September 12, 1987, as a member of the 39th Regular Course.

Lagbaja was commissioned as 2Lt on September 19, 1992, into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps.

Prior to his appointment as COAS, Lagbaja was the chief of operations (Army) and General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Kaduna, and 82 Division, Nigerian Army Enugu.