President Bola Tinubu has reportedly halted plans to grant an extraordinary promotion to his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Colonel Nurudeen Yusuf, following interventions by senior retired military officers, including two former Chiefs of Army Staff, military sources told The Guardian on Tuesday night.
The proposed elevation of Yusuf to the rank of brigadier-general, barely one year after his promotion to colonel in December 2024, was said to have been scheduled for a quiet ceremony on Monday evening.
The plan, however, was reportedly shelved at the last minute after concerns were raised over its implications for military discipline, seniority and morale.
Under established Nigerian Army procedures, promotion to brigadier-general is among the most competitive stages of an officer’s career.
Candidates are typically required to spend a minimum of four years in the rank of colonel, complete mandatory senior military education, often at the National Defence College (NDC) or NIPSS, Kuru, and pass through rigorous promotion boards that assess service records, command experience, discipline and vacancy availability.
The reported plan to fast-track Yusuf’s promotion was seen within military circles as a sharp departure from these norms.
A leaked letter dated December 12, 2025, from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), signed by Nuhu Ribadu, had indicated that Yusuf would continue to serve as the President’s ADC despite the proposed elevation.
Sources gleaned from military circles also noted that no brigadier-general has previously served as ADC to a sitting Nigerian President, a factor that reportedly deepened unease within the Army hierarchy.
In the hours leading up to the planned ceremony, Defence Minister, General Christopher Musa (retd.), and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, were said to have cut short an official trip to Lagos and returned to Abuja.
Ultimately, however, it was the intervention of two widely respected former Army Chiefs that proved decisive, persuading the President to suspend the promotion.
A presidency source confirmed that the elevation “would not happen anytime soon.”
The development coincided with a closed-door meeting President Tinubu held on Monday with Nigeria’s Service Chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid mounting internal and regional security concerns.
The meeting took place shortly after the President attended the public presentation of the book From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari at the State House Conference Centre.
It was Tinubu’s first formal engagement with the full military high command since the swearing-in of General Musa as Minister of Defence on December 4, a move seen as an early signal of efforts to realign defence and security strategy under new leadership at the Ministry of Defence.
Although the Presidency did not disclose the agenda of the meeting, it came against the backdrop of worsening insecurity, including the continued captivity of 115 students abducted from a Catholic boarding school in November.
The incident has intensified public pressure on the Federal Government to recalibrate its response to kidnapping and mass abductions, particularly in the North and parts of the Middle Belt.
On November 26, Tinubu declared a national security emergency, ordering fresh recruitment into security agencies to address manpower gaps and overstretched forces.
He also directed the withdrawal of police personnel attached to private individuals and VIPs, redeploying them to core policing duties.
The Aso Villa meeting also followed the Senate’s recent approval of the President’s request to deploy Nigerian troops to the Republic of Benin after an attempted coup in the neighbouring West African country, underscoring Nigeria’s expanding regional security obligations under ECOWAS frameworks.
Security sources said discussions at the Villa were expected to span internal security operations, intelligence coordination, border security, counterterrorism and Nigeria’s regional commitments.
In recent days, renewed calls have also emerged for a review of the performance of senior security officials amid persistent insecurity nationwide.
While the Presidency has declined to comment on the ADC promotion controversy, Monday’s engagement with the Service Chiefs is widely viewed as a sign that Tinubu is personally asserting civilian oversight of security policy and reassessing the country’s security architecture.
Officials present after the meeting declined to brief journalists, leaving outcomes and possible decisions to speculation.
Beyond the immediate decision to shelve Yusuf’s promotion, the episode has reopened a familiar but sensitive debate within Nigeria’s security establishment: where the line should be drawn between presidential prerogative and entrenched military procedure.
Though special or presidential promotions are not entirely without precedent in Nigeria’s military history, often justified by exceptional gallantry or urgent national security needs, many, however, caution that such elevations at the general officer level are particularly delicate. They can disrupt seniority structures and affect morale among officers who have advanced strictly through established systems.
ADCs, by virtue of their proximity to the Commander-in-Chief, occupy a unique place in civil-military relations. Their roles are traditionally protective and administrative rather than command-oriented, making accelerated promotions especially contentious.
“Military morale rests on the belief that everyone plays by the same rules,” a retired infantry officer said. “Once officers feel that access to power outweighs merit, cohesion suffers.”
For many, the controversy underscores a broader challenge facing the Tinubu administration: how to exercise presidential authority in security matters without weakening institutional confidence.
In a military stretched by insurgency, banditry and extensive internal deployments, they argue, perception can be as consequential as command.
Whether the reported promotion is formally confirmed or quietly abandoned, the episode serves as a reminder that in matters of military professionalism, how decisions are made can matter just as much as the decisions themselves.
