TINUBU’S AIDE-DE-CAMP’S RAPID PROMOTION TO BRIGADIER GENERAL REVERSED AFTER MILITARY BACKLASH

The reported rapid promotion of Colonel Nurudeen Yusuf, President Bola Tinubu’s aide-de-camp, to the rank of Brigadier General has been reversed following significant internal military objections. Sources confirm that the special presidential promotion, which bypassed standard procedures, has been canceled after interventions from senior military figures.

Colonel Yusuf, decorated as a colonel only in January 2025, was set for elevation to brigadier-general through a “special presidential promotion.” Under normal military regulations, an officer must serve as a colonel for at least four years and attend the National Defence College before being considered for promotion. The approval to bypass this process was conveyed in a leaked letter dated December 12, 2025, from the office of the National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, to the Chief of Army Staff. In the letter, Ribadu stated, “Yusuf will be retained as the president’s ADC despite the promotion.” This planned move caused disquiet, as no brigadier-general has ever served as ADC to a Nigerian president.

Ahead of the planned decoration ceremony on Monday, the Minister of Defence, Chris Musa, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, cut short a visit to Lagos to return to the federal capital. Reports indicate that two highly respected former army chiefs successfully persuaded President Tinubu to shelve the plan due to its potential dangers to military discipline and morale. “There had been complaints by military experts that this was going to be a ‘bad precedent’,” a source noted. Consequently, the promotion has been canceled.

Yusuf has previously been accused of wielding undue influence in military promotions and retirements due to his closeness to the president. A military source revealed, “He got the president to sign a memo for the promotion of officers who were due for retirement after failing three times as specified by their rules. When the president was told of the implications regarding the rule, he withdrew the memo but nonetheless asked that the officers be allowed to remain in service, citing the emergency he just declared. They are still in service, I understand.”

Colonel Yusuf was appointed as Tinubu’s ADC in April 2023 while still a lieutenant colonel, a month before Tinubu’s inauguration. He was crowned as the monarch of Ilemona land in Kwara State in July 2024 but is expected to fully assume the traditional role only upon his retirement from the military.