- How CDI Is Erroneously Being Equated With CDS, Service Chiefs
By Madu Onuorah
The three services of Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) – Army, Navy and Air Force, is bracing for fresh retirements following the appointment of a new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Olatunbosu Oluyede and Service Chiefs – Major General Waidi Shaibu (Chief of Army Staff (COAS); Rear Admiral Idi Abbas (Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and Air Vice Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke as (Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).
On Friday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, sacked General Christopher Musa (CDS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla (CNS) and Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar (CAS).
General Oluyede, the new CDS, was until the appointment, the Chief of Army Staff.
By their sack, General Musa, Vice Admiral Ogalla and Air Marshal Abubakar are effectively retired from the Nigerian military.
With the appointment, General Oluyede will earn the rank on appointment of 4-star General for which he will be decorated with President Tinubu upon confirmation by the National Assembly.
In the same vein, the new COAS, Major General Shuaibu, will be decorated with the rank of Lieutenant General; new CNS, Rear Admiral Abbas, will be decorated with the rank of Vice Admiral; and the new CAS, Air Vice Marshal Aneke, will be decorated with the rank on appointment of Air Marshal.
And in line with the Nigerian military tradition, a shakeup is in the offing in the upper echelons of the AFN. Foremost is the eminent retirement of most of the senior Generals who are senior to the current Service Chiefs.
Mostly to be affected is the Nigerian Army. This is because the new COAS, General Shaibu (N/9895) is a member of the 41 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). This means that save for the handful who can be accommodated at Defence Headquarters (DHQ), members of Courses 39, 40 and even 41 are at risk of retirement.
The reason while 39 Regular Course can still serve at DHQ is because General Oluyede is a member of 39 Course. He may want to have a member of his Course still in service.
In the Navy or Air Force, senor General equivalent ranks who cannot be accommodated at DHQ or its tri-service institutions will be ranks as they cannot service under their juniors in the Services. This is more so as both the new CNS and CAS – Admiral Abbas and AVM Aneke are both members of 40th Regular Course.
All the Course 39 still in service and those who are the same Course 40 with their Service Chiefs who cannot be accommodated at DHQ will proceed on retirement.
Of course the new Service Chiefs are expected to rejig the commanding heights of their respective Services, meaning that there will be massive shakeup among the General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Flag Officers Commanding (FOCs), Air Officers Commanding (AOCs), Principal Staff Officers of both Service and Defence Headquarters.
Of course, as has become the tradition since the All Progressive Congress (APC) took power in 2015, the announcement of the CDS and Service Chiefs was also done alongside that of the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Major General Emmanuel Akomaye Parker Undiandeye, who retained his position.
Until the exit of the former CDI, Rear Admiral Gabriel Edmund Okoi (rtd) (February 2014 to July 2015), the office did not command the attention and elevation of being announced alongside the appointment of the CDS and the Service Chiefs. But because Admiral Okoi was part of the regular defence and security meetings ahead of inauguration and was sometimes given the lead to brief the then late President Muhammadu Buhari, the office and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) was given so much prominence by his team.
It is such that from President Buhari and now President Tinubu, the appointment of CDI is being announced alongside that of the CDS and Service Chiefs as if they are equivalent, which is far from it.
In the last appointment of CDS and Service Chiefs by President Goodluck Jonathan wherein late Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh replaced Admiral Ola Ibrahim as CDS, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin (rtd) took over from Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba as CNS and Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu took over from Air Chief Marshal Badeh as CAS, there was no mention of the appointment of CDI. The appointment of Admiral Okoi was announced in February 2015.
But when on July 13, 2015, Buhari approved the appointment of General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin (CDS), Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (COAS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (CNS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (CAS) and Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd.) – National Security Adviser (NSA), the announcement came alongside the appointment of Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan (CDI).
Since then, it has become a tradition. But essentially, the CDI, a 2-star rank (Major General, Rear Admiral, or Air Vice Marshal) senior officer, reports to the CDS and functions as one of his Principal Staff Officers.
In an Explainer in a Facebook post on Saturday October 25, 2025 by Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu (rtd), a Security Sector Reform Consultant: “The CDI is not a Service Chief and does not command a service…When it is the turn of a particular service, the Service Chief of that service selects and submits the name of an officer, informs the President, and the appointment is then announced only within the military. The appointment of CDI used to be treated as a purely internal posting – with no excessive media publicity and no official statement from the Presidency.
“The CDI is a key player in Nigeria’s national security and defence intelligence architecture. He is a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee JIC (together with DG DSS, DG NIA , NSA as head) and contributes to strategic security decisions. However, unlike the COAS, CNS, and CAS, he does not command troops, nor does he lead a service. His mandate is intelligence coordination and strategic support, not operational command.
“CDI appointments typically come after the public announcement of the CDS and Service Chiefs. This procedure underscored that the CDI is not a Presidential appointee, nor is he equivalent to a Service Chief. Traditionally, the officer appointed CDI was of lower seniority than the Service Chiefs, reinforcing the hierarchy. Only in recent cases did we start to have a CDI of equivalent or higher seniority to the Service Chiefs.”
Confirming the findings of Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN), Group Captain Shehu added that “from the time of late President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) May Allah forgive his mistakes, significant shifts emerged as follows:
– The CDI appointment began to be unveiled and announced at the same time as that of the CDS and the three Service Chiefs.
– For the first time, the appointment was announced directly by the Presidency.
“The CDI began to routinely attend Service Chiefs’ meetings with the President. This practice, continued under PBAT, has blurred the lines between the CDI and Service Chiefs, creating a public and institutional perception especially from Nigerians not conversant with military matters, that the CDI is now their equivalent. In my respectful view, a return to the original arrangement would help restore clarity, discipline, and a proper command structure between the CDS, the Service Chiefs, and the CDI…
“A return to status quo ante (which conforms to what obtains in most militaries) is strongly advisable to reinforce professional military hierarchy and discipline. This issue among others have been pointed out in the reports of several unimplemented reports of Committees for the reform of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
