President Bola Tinubu has approved the promotion of his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Nurudeen Yusuf, to the rank of brigadier-general, a decision that has sparked murmuring 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, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, conveyed the President’s approval for Mr Yusuf’s elevation.
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The promotion has raised eyebrows within military circles because Mr Yusuf was only decorated as a colonel in January this year, making the latest advancement his second within a 12-month period.
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.
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“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.
However, a Presidency source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter, said the President approved the elevation 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 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.
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He added that without a corresponding promotion, Mr 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.
Mr Yusuf was appointed ADC to Mr Tinubu on 1 May 2023, about four weeks before the President’s inauguration. He held the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the time.
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