Army promotes 105 senior officers

The Nigerian Army Council has approved the promotion of 105 senior officers, elevating 28 Brigadier Generals to the rank of Major General and promoting 77 Colonels to Brigadier General.

This was contained in a statement on Friday by Appolonia Anele, Acting Director, Army Public Relations.

A breakdown of the promotions shows elevations across key intelligence, operational, training and administrative commands.

Among those promoted to Major General are, O. Adegbe of the Defence Intelligence Agency; . S. M. Uba, Director of Defence Information; . R. E. Hedima, Acting Chief of Military Intelligence (Army); and . R. T. Utsaha, Deputy Director of Defence Operations.

Also elevated are . A. M. Umar, Commandant of the Warrant Officer Academy; S. Sulaiman, Deputy Military Secretary (Army); . I. O. Bassey, Director of the Nigerian Army Operations Centre; and C. A. Ekeator of the Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

Others promoted to Major General include the Acting Director of Procurement at the Office of the Chief of Army Staff, S. Y. Yakasai; . W. L. Nzidee of the Army Headquarters Department of Logistics; . S. A. Emmanuel of the Nigerian Army Signals; and S. S. Tilawan, Acting Commander of Sector 3, Joint Task Force North East Operation Hadin Kai.

Also on the list are . M. O. Agi, Desk Officer for TETFund at the Nigerian Defence Academy; I. M. Abbas, Commander of 34 Brigade; and Z. A. Saidu, who was promoted posthumously.

The Army Council also elevated 77 Colonels to Brigadier General across various units, formations and specialised corps.

Among them are . Y. Ibrahim of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre; . N. N. Gambo of the Department of Civil-Military Affairs; and . A. Saidu of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps.

Other newly promoted Brigadier Generals include . A. Ali of Army Headquarters Garrison; I. Waziri from the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff; . M. M. Sani of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji; and . A. A. Alkali of the Nigerian Army Dog Centre.

Promotions also went to officers in operational roles such as . K. R. Apata of Army Headquarters Provost Group; M. K. Akpuogwu of Operation Whirl Stroke; and . Y. K. Audu of Operation Hadin Kai, among others.

Several officers in medical, logistics and training institutions, including those at the Nigerian Army Medical Corps, 68 and 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospitals, Nigerian Army Armour School and the Operations Monitoring Support Team— were also elevated.

Read also: Insecurity: Army to recruit 24,000 soldiers to boost operational strength

Waidi Shaibu, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), congratulated the newly promoted officers and their families, urging them to see their elevation as a call to greater service.

He charged them to deepen their professional commitment, provide exemplary leadership and adopt innovative and unconventional strategies to address Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.

Shaibu stressed that the officers must uphold their oath to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity and maintain absolute loyalty to the Constitution, describing these values as non-negotiable expectations of their new ranks.

The COAS added that the Army’s current security demands require leaders who can inspire confidence, respond decisively and drive operational effectiveness across all theatres of operation.

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