Following the appointment of new Service Chiefs by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Ministry of Defence has directed all officers on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular Course 38 and below to voluntarily retire from service.
All the new service chiefs, except the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Maj. General Christopher Musa, are members of the NDA regular course 39.
In an internal memo dated June 26 and signed by Maj. General Y. Yahaya, on behalf of the new CDS, the Defence Ministry stated that seniors of the new service chiefs must exit the military “in order to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline”.
According to the memo seen by The Whistler, the affected officers including generals, brigadiers-general, air vice marshals, and admirals in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Nigerian Navy are directed to submit their retirement applications to their respective Service Headquarters not later than July 3, 2023.
The memo read partly: “It would be recalled that the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently appointed new CDS and Service Chiefs on 19 Jun 23.
“Consequently, I am directed to respectfully request Services to direct all officers with seniority on commission above that of NDA Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from Service with immediate effect.
“It is important that all officers whose officer cadet courses run seniority above that of the current Service Chiefs disengage from the Service ”
Confirming the memo, a top officer of the Army disclosed that the process is a normal procedure where those on a higher regular course to the newly appointed service chiefs are retired.
The source said: “It is a normal procedure. When your junior is appointed, the onus is now on you to retire because the job is very regimented.
“So, the Course 39 as the memo mentioned are the Service Chiefs, Army, Navy, and Airforce chiefs. What it entails is that those that are seniors in the respective services will turn in their papers of retirement.”
When asked about the number of affected officers expected to retire, the source said it was difficult to tell because “the seniority is staggered”.
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