{"id":408,"date":"2026-07-24T08:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=408"},"modified":"2026-07-24T08:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:41:41","slug":"tinubu-expands-army-to-12-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"Tinubu expands Army to 12 divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By Muhyideen Jimoh<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Abuja<\/p>\n<p>President Bola Tinubu has approved the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions and authorised the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The approval aims to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s security architecture and enhance the operational effectiveness of the Nigerian Army.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is contained in a statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday in Abuja.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Presidency said the decision reflects Tinubu\u2019s commitment to equipping the Armed Forces to tackle evolving security challenges and reinforce national defence capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It said the expansion builds on sustained investments in the military, including acquisition of critical platforms, improved troop welfare and support for operational readiness and force modernisation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Under the new structure, the Army will operate 12 divisions strategically located across the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The divisions are: 1 Division, Kaduna; 2 Division, Ibadan; 3 Division, Jos; 5 Division, Makurdi; 6 Division, Port Harcourt; and 7 Division, Maiduguri.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Others are 8 Division, Sokoto; 9 Division, Ilorin; 10 Division, Jalingo; 81 Division, Lagos; 82 Division, Enugu; and 83 Division, Benin City.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The new divisions in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City will improve command and control and decentralise operational decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They will also strengthen border security, protect critical national infrastructure, improve counter-insurgency operations and ensure quicker responses to emerging security threats nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Implementation will be executed in two phases.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The first phase, covering the establishment of the 5, 9 and 10 Divisions and reorganisation of existing formations, will be completed by September.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The second phase, involving the establishment of the 83 Division and additional reorganisation, is scheduled for completion by December.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tinubu commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shuaibu, and officers and soldiers for their dedication, professionalism and commitment to defending Nigeria\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He reaffirmed his administration\u2019s resolve to continue investing in the Armed Forces to ensure they remain well-equipped, motivated and capable of safeguarding the nation and its citizens.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>List of the 12 Divisions<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1. 1 Division Headquarters \u2013 Kaduna (Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2. 2 Division Headquarters \u2013 Ibadan (Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>3. 3 Division Headquarters \u2013 Jos (Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>4. 5 Division Headquarters \u2013 Makurdi (Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>5. 6 Division Headquarters \u2013 Port Harcourt (Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>6. 7 Division Headquarters \u2013 Maiduguri (Borno and Yobe States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>7. 8 Division Headquarters \u2013 Sokoto (Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>8. 9 Division Headquarters \u2013 Ilorin (Kwara and Niger States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>9. 10 Division Headquarters \u2013 Jalingo (Taraba and Adamawa States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>10. 81 Division Headquarters \u2013 Lagos (Lagos and Ogun States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>11. 82 Division Headquarters \u2013 Enugu (Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo States)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>12. 83 Division Headquarters \u2013 Benin (Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; By Muhyideen Jimoh &nbsp; Abuja President Bola Tinubu has approved the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions and authorised the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel. &nbsp; The approval aims to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s security architecture and enhance the operational effectiveness of the Nigerian Army. &nbsp; This is contained in a statement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[320,318,319,26],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-12-divisions-army","tag-army","tag-expansion","tag-tinubu"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot_20260204-125041-1.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}