The Nigerian Army has approved the voluntary retirement of the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Blueprint reliably gathered. The retirement has laid to rest the controversy surrounding Al-Mustapha’s return to service and purported promotion to the rank of Brigadier General in 2013 after he was freed from prison. Blueprint gathered that the Army Council gave the approval of Al-Mustapha’s retirement based on the extant laws and condition of service in the Nigerian Armed Forces. Sources told our correspondent that the Army Council which approves promotion and retirement of officers of the Nigerian Army based on Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) approved the retirement last week.
“Al-Mustapha’s retirement was approved by the Army Council and backdated to June 2013. This means, he served the Nigerian Army for 33 years. It is a voluntary retirement,” the source said. “Even though, by law Al-Mustapha was still in service when he was released from prison, he knew that by condition of service he no longer fitted in the army.” Blueprint had reported exclusively (July 15, 2015) on why Al-Mustapha has to quit the army based on HTACOS . Even though the army confirmed this, Blueprint’s investigation indicated that Al-Mustapha cannot continue in the army.
The source said: “When an army officer has a case in court, he is placed on half salary. That is what has happened to Al-Mustapha. Now that the case is in his favour, he will be paid arrears of his salary and other benefits for the years he spent in prison. And then, he will be expected to write for voluntary retirement. ” The source disclosed to our reporter that based on both old and new HTACOS, Al-Mustapha “does not qualify to continue in the army.”
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Source: Blueprint
