Disquiet has been reported in the Nigerian Army following the “special presidential promotion” which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently approved for his aide-de-camp (ADC), Nurudeen Yusuf, from the rank of colonel to brigadier-general.

The approval was conveyed in a letter from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Chief of Army Staff.

The leaked letter was dated December 12, 2025, and was signed by Nuhu Ribadu, the NSA.

In the letter, Ribadu said Yusuf will be retained as the president’s ADC despite the promotion.

“I wish to convey Mr. President’s approval of Special Presidential Promotion of Colonel Nurudeen Alowonle Yusuf to the rank of Brigadier General and retention as ADC C-in-C with effect from 12 December 2025 for your necessary action as enclosed. Please accept the assurances of my esteemed regards,” the memo reads.

However, several Nigerian Army personnel are said to be displeased over the “favouritism”, arguing that the “special presidential promotion” violates the principles of promotion in the armed forces.

Going by army rules, Yusuf is to meet some requirements before being promoted from colonel to brigadier-general, which include the completion of a war college or a senior staff course, and completion of a strategic course at the National Defence College or its equivalent.

A colonel in the Nigerian Army is also expected to spend a duration of four to five years before becoming eligible for promotion.

In January 2025, Tinubu decorated Yusuf with the rank of colonel after he was promoted in December 2024. The decoration ceremony took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In April 2023, Yusuf, who was then a lieutenant colonel, was appointed as the ADC to Tinubu — barely a month before the inauguration of Tinubu as president.

Yusuf was crowned as the monarch of Ilemona land in Oyun LGA of Kwara state in July 2024.

However, he is expected to fully assume the traditional role when he retires from the military.

Some of those who spoke about his fast-tracked promotion said it was an “unusual decision, especially under a democratic dispensation.”

One of the officers who spoke on the issue yesterday, Sunday, December 14, 2025, said while young and middle cadre officers such as lieutenants, captains, majors and lieutenant colonels could be promoted for exceptional performance, “promoting someone to the position of brigadier general through executive fiat is not only abnormal but a terrible precedence.”

Another source said: “This is an aberration…In the immediate past government, Brig.- Gen. ML Abubakar (N/10378),a member of 44 Regular Course of NDA, started with then President Muhammadu Buhari as Lt Col.

“When it was time for his promotion, he was promoted to Colonel along with his course mates. At the end of Buhari’s first term, he was released to attend the statutory course for promotion to Brigadier General. At the end of the course and passing through the normal process, he was posted out of the Villa to an appointment commensurate with his rank and replaced with then Lt Col YM Dodo (N/11624), a member of 50RC.”

The source added: “Similarly, during the President Olusegun Obasanjo era, Col Giwa Amu was replaced with Lt Col Chris Jemitola for the former to proceed to his Defence College and grow with his course mates.

“The only time a Brig Gen was ADC, was during the time of General Abdussalami Abubakar, when Col Abide Aprezi, was promoted to Brigadier General and was retained for a few months to conclude the transition programme,” he said.

An unnamed source at the Presidency is quoted as saying that Tinubu approved the elevation to align Yusuf’s rank with those of other senior security officials attached to the Presidential Villa.

According to the source, the Nigeria Police Force in August promoted the president’s Chief Personal Security Officer, Usman Shugaba, from deputy commissioner of police to commissioner of police.

Similarly, the State Security Services (SSS) recently elevated the president’s Chief Security Officer, Adegboyega Fasasi, to the rank of director.

The source explained that the police and SSS ranks are considered equivalent to that of a brigadier-general in the Nigerian Army.

He added that without a corresponding promotion, Yusuf would have remained subordinate in rank to his counterparts within the Villa’s security architecture, a situation he said could undermine esprit de corps among the presidential security team.

But another anonymous source countered the claim saying: “The Nigerian Army is an institution sustained by tradition, memory, and an unwritten moral code that governs advancement, authority, and respect.”

According to him, “Promotion to the rank of Brigadier General has, over decades, been one of the clearest expressions of that code. It signifies that an officer has endured the full weight of professional scrutiny, satisfied exacting standards, and earned the confidence of both peers and subordinates through time, sacrifice, and intellectual preparation. This tradition is not ornamental. It is the backbone of discipline and the quiet assurance that the system is fair.

“Within this framework, the promotion of an officer who reportedly spent only one year in the rank of Colonel and who did not pass through the Army War College or the National Defence College represents a decision of extraordinary institutional risk. It is not merely a deviation from precedent, but a rupture with tradition. The immediate effect is not visible in public ceremonies but is felt deeply within messes, command offices, and informal professional spaces where officers measure decisions against the values they have lived by for decades.

“For generations, capable officers have been compulsorily retired or passed over at the Colonel level for failing to meet the stringent requirements for elevation to Brigadier General. Many accepted this outcome with dignity because they trusted the integrity of the system. To now elevate an officer who has not met those same benchmarks sends a devastating signal that sacrifice, patience, and professional education are no longer decisive. This is how quiet resentment begins. Not rebellion, but grumbling. Not protest, but erosion. Once officers begin to believe that the rules no longer apply equally, the moral fabric of the institution starts to fray.”

Another source also faulted the procedure of approving the promotion. He said: “A letter from president conveying his request to the military was passed to the NSA. The NSA passed it directly to Chief of Army Staff, not to the CDS, not to the Minister of Defence … This is abnormal.”

Becoming a Brigadier-General

It was learnt that under long-standing Nigerian Army practice, and in line with the global best practice, an officer cannot legitimately move from Colonel to Brigadier General without meeting three key requirements:

Completion of War College/Senior Staff Course (approximately one year)

Completion of National Defence College or equivalent strategic course (approximately one year)

Minimum time-in-rank as Colonel: typically four to five years. (Pieced together from reports by TheCable, Daily Trust and Premium Times)

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