The ministry of Defence has debunked media reports that the defence minister, Aliyu Gusau, a lieutenant general, appointed only last week has resigned from his position.

A statement by the director of press in the ministry, Shehu Maikai, said that there is no truth in the reports.

“Our attention have been drawn to a media posting on the social network to the effect that the Honourable Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Aliyu Gusau has resigned; and wish to state, categorically, that the minister has not resign his appointment.”

Gusau, who was sworn in on March 5, 2014 was rumoured to have resigned his position after an altercation between him and military commanders.

The statement reassured that he remains committed to his duty and thanked all those who called to verify the rumour.

The Presidency has also dismissed the media report as false, saying there is no iota of truth in the rumoured resignation of Gusau as the  minister of Defence.

Senior special assistant to the President on Media, Reuben Abati, said: “It is not true that he (referring to Gusau) has resigned.”
There had been initial misgivings about Gusau, a retired Army General serving as the minister of defence when a colonel, SamboDasuki is the National Security Adviser, a position regarded as senior to the minister’s.

A retired senior army office who spoke to our correspondent on the issue but who does not want to be named, however, said that the story that Gusau resigned due to insubordination by some serving officers was “most unlikely”.

The source, a retired brigadier, said that hierarchy in the military forces is so strictly that “it is inconceivable that a junior officer would be rude to a superior serving or retired.”