Tinubu Approves Brigadier-General Promotion for His ADC, Second Promotion in One Year, Reportedly Stirring Discontent in Army
President Bola Tinubu has approved the promotion of his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Nurudeen Yusuf, to the rank of brigadier-general, a move that has reportedly generated murmuring and discontent within the Nigerian Army.
The approval was conveyed in a letter dated December 12, 2025, addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Wahid Shaibu, by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The promotion has raised eyebrows within military circles as Mr Yusuf was only decorated as a colonel in January this year, making the latest elevation his second promotion within a 12-month period.
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Several officers, including some of his coursemates, are said to be unhappy over what they described as an unusually rapid career progression, with critics accusing the President of favouritism.
“This b+ggars 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 issued an official public explanation for the accelerated promotion.
According to a Presudency 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, while 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, adding that without a corresponding promotion, Mr Yusuf would have remained subordinate in rank to his counterparts, potentially affecting esprit de corps within the Villa’s security team.
Mr Yusuf was appointed ADC to President Tinubu on May 1, 2023, about four weeks before the President’s inauguration. At the time of his appointment, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
(Democracy Newsline Newspaper, December 15th 2025)
