Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed new military, intelligence and police chiefs, his office said on Wednesday, ahead of January elections in the oil-rich country.

Jonathan “has appointed new service chiefs,” the office said in a statement.

“Air Marshal O.O. Petirin is new chief of defence staff,” it said. “Major General O.A. Ihejirika is chief of army staff, Rear Admiral O.S. Ibrahim is chief of naval staff while Air Vice Marshall Umar is chief of air staff.” New heads of intelligence and police were also named, it said.

“The president thanked the outgoing service chiefs whose tenure expired in August for loyalty and dedication to service,” the statement said.

“In a related development, Jonathan today appointed Mr Hafiz A.

Ringim as acting inspector general of police and Ita Ekpeyong as the new director general of the State Security Services,” it added, referring to the intelligence agency.

Jonathan, who took over after the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua in May, did not provide more specific details on the moves.

He faces deep disagreement within his ruling Peoples Democratic Party over whether he should be its candidate in the January elections.

Some in the party say the PDP should abandon Jonathan, a southern Christian, in favour of a candidate from the country’s mainly Muslim north.

Nigeria has a history of military coups and most recently returned to civilian rule in 1999.