Bola Tinubu has approved the promotion of his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Nurudeen Yusuf, to the rank of brigadier-general, a move that has stirred murmurs and discontent within the Nigerian Army.
In a letter dated 12 December 2025 and addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Wahid Shaibu, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu conveyed the President’s approval for Mr Yusuf’s elevation.
The promotion has drawn attention within military circles because Mr Yusuf was only promoted to colonel in January this year, making this his second promotion within 12 months.
Several officers, including some of his coursemates, reportedly expressed frustration over what they described as an unprecedented fast-tracking of his career, with critics accusing the President of favouritism.
“This beggars belief and defies all logic,” an aggrieved senior officer told Premium Times. “Someone who was just promoted to colonel this year?”
Neither the Presidency nor the Nigerian Army has publicly offered an official explanation for Mr Yusuf’s accelerated promotion.
A Presidency source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the elevation was intended to align Mr 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 to commissioner of police, while the State Security Services (SSS) recently elevated the President’s Chief Security Officer, Adegboyega Fasasi, to the rank of director. These ranks are considered equivalent to a brigadier-general in the Nigerian Army.
The source added that without a corresponding promotion, Mr Yusuf would have remained subordinate in rank to his counterparts within the Villa’s security structure, a situation that could undermine esprit de corps among the presidential security team.
Mr Yusuf was appointed ADC to President Tinubu on 1 May 2023, about four weeks before the President’s inauguration, holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the time.
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