The Defence Headquarters has issued a directive to top officers who are senior to the newly appointed service chiefs, instructing them to voluntarily retire from service by Monday. The memo, dated June 26 and signed by Maj Gen Y. Yahaya on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, was directed to generals, brigadiers-general, air vice marshals, and rear admirals in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Nigerian Navy. This decision follows the appointment of new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu on June 19 and is in line with the military tradition of retiring officers senior to the service chiefs. The retirement of these senior officers aims to maintain the military’s hierarchy and discipline. The new service chiefs include Maj Gen Christopher Musa as the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja as the Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as the Chief of Naval Staff, and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar as the Chief of Air Staff.
The Defence Headquarters memo requests officers with seniority above that of Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service immediately. The memo emphasizes the importance of upholding the military’s professional values and hierarchy. While the spokespersons for the army and navy were unable to provide specific statistics on the number of officers affected, retired Col Foluso Saka suggested that a corps or reserve be established for retired military personnel to benefit from their expertise and technical skills. Security analyst Timothy Avele stated that the retirement of senior officers may not significantly impact ongoing military operations, as long as they are replaced with technologically proficient and energetic officers. Additionally, the Nigerian Navy announced the redeployment of 56 senior officers and one commodore, as part of efforts to optimize performance and reposition the navy.
