The extraordinary meeting of heads of state and governments of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin has allowed Nigerian to retain the slot of the force commander in the ongoing war against Boko Haram insurgency till the end of the military campaign.

The meeting equally approved that the position of deputy force commander and chief of staff be rotated between Cameroun and Chad after every twelve months.

The meeting which took place at the Presidential Conference Lodge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja was attended by, Boni Yayi of Benin Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou, President of Niger Republic and Idriss Deby, President of Chad including Mebe Ngo’o Edgard Alain, a minister delegate of Cameroon who represented his principal, Paul Biya.

Talks at the summit centered on the security situation in the Lake Chad Basin and the immediate operational strategies to be embarked on by the MJTF.

Also discussions held on the adoption of an Emergency Development Plan, EMD.

It would be recalled that a Nigerian, Tukur Buratai, a major general, was last week appointed the force commander of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF.

Earlier in the meeting, Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari had tacitly rejected the suggested rotational six-month tenure of the MNJTF. Buhari had insisted that the position be ceded to Nigeria since it was providing most of the troops engaged in the war.

According to a communiqué released at the end of the one day summit, the participants agreed that the military onslaught on the insurgents had been largely successful but affirmed that much still need to be done to rout the militants from the region.

The heads of state also approved the Concept of Operations Strategic and Operational and related documents of the MNJTF aimed at tacking insurgency.

The leaders also approved $30million for the installation and equipping of the MNJTF.

Another approval was given for the deployment of the MNJTF HQ at N’Djamena as well as the deployment of the national contingents to the MNJTF under the operational command of the new MNJTF commander effective from July 30, 2015.

The leaders also requested that the president of the UN Security Council make a formal declarative statement in support of MNJTF Operations against the militants.