No fewer than 100 Generals have been given a July 3, 2023, deadline to retire from the service, following the appointment of new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu.

Those given the deadline to retire are officers of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular Course 38 and below to voluntarily retire from service.

This was contained in a memo dated June 26, 2023, and signed by Maj. General Y. Yahaya on behalf of the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Maj. General Christopher Musa.

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.”

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The affected officers, including Generals, Brigadiers-General, and Air Vice Marshals, and admirals in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Nigerian Navy were directed to submit their retirement applications to their respective Service Headquarters not later than July 3, 2023.

The memo partly read: “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.”

The Star