Abuja – The special presidential promotion that would have elevated Colonel Nurudeen Yusuf, the aide‑de‑camp to President Bola Tinubu, to the rank of brigadier‑general has been withdrawn, according to reports from TheCable. The promotion, announced in a leaked letter dated December 12, 2025 and signed by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, sought to bypass the standard requirement that an officer serve at least four years as a colonel and complete the National Defence College before being considered for the rank of brigadier‑general. The letter, addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, also stated that Yusuf would remain the president’s ADC despite the elevation – a first for a brigadier‑general to hold that post, which sparked unease within the armed forces.
In the days leading up to a planned decoration ceremony, Defence Minister Chris Musa, a retired general, and Army Chief Lieutenant‑General Waidi Shaibu cut short a visit to Lagos and returned to the federal capital. Two highly respected former army chiefs intervened, persuading President Tinubu that the move posed a risk to military discipline and set a “bad precedent,” the newspaper said. Their intervention led to the promotion being cancelled.
Military experts warned that the fast‑track promotion could undermine the established promotion framework. A military source told TheCable, “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.”
Yusuf’s rapid ascent began when President Tinubu decorated him as a colonel in January 2025. He had been appointed ADC in April 2023, a month before Tinubu’s inauguration, after serving as a lieutenant colonel. In July 2024 he was crowned monarch of Ilemona land in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, a traditional role he is expected to assume fully upon his retirement from the military.
The reversal of the promotion highlights the tension between executive discretion and the armed forces’ institutional norms, with senior officers expressing concern over the potential erosion of merit‑based progression. The presidency has not issued a formal comment on the matter.
