November 8, 2025
Nigerian military personnel have been banned from marrying foreigners and naturalized Nigerians, by the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) of the Armed Forces Act 2024, also stated that it is illegal for commissioned officers to marry non-commissioned officers, such as soldiers, ratings, or airwomen.
Service chiefs are under strict orders to implement the new rules.
Excerpts of the HTACOS reads, “This Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service Officers 2024 has been promulgated to ensure uniform implementation and it supersedes the previous HTACOS Officers 2017.
The contents are to be strictly observed on all occasions and interpreted reasonably and intelligently, with due respect to the interest of the Services, bearing in mind that no attempt has been made to provide for unnecessary and self-evident exceptions.
This HTACOS is subject to review after five years.”
Chapter 25 of the new rule deals with marriages for the officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces.
Specifically, Subsection 5 of the document states that “no officer is allowed to marry a foreigner or a naturalized Nigerian.”
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The 2024 edition of the HTACOS, as approved by the Armed Forces Council, came into effect on December 6, 2024, when it was signed by the President.
According to Chapter 25, Subsection 1, a second lieutenant, midshipman and pilot officer (2Lt/Mid/Plt Offr) is on probation and is expected to live in the Officers’ Mess without a spouse.
Also, he is not allowed to marry, and if he has been married before he went to the Academy, though his records may show this fact, he will not be recognised as a married officer for the purpose of accommodation, pay and other allowances applicable to married officers.
However, Subsection 2 of the same chapter states that “where a soldier/rating/airman is commissioned into any of the Services’ Corps/Branch/Specialty from the ranks as 2Lt/Mid/Plt Officer and the officer was married before commissioning, he will live in the Officers’ Mess for a minimum of three months. Thereafter, he may be given married accommodation if available or lodging allowance in lieu.”
According to the law, before marriage, officers are required to obtain approval from higher authorities and subject their partners to a vetting process.
Chapter 25, Subsection 3-4 states: “Any officer who is not yet married must first seek approval of the appropriate superior authority of his/her intention to marry. An RCC officer shall not be eligible to apply to marry until after five years of commissioning.
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The approval shall be granted only after vetting and clearance of the officer’s proposed spouse by the appropriate superior authority.”
“If an officer marries a soldier/rating/airman/airwoman under any of the existing ordinances, the officer or the soldier/rating/airman/airwoman will be given the option to leave the Service from the date of such marriage. Where personnel married to fellow personnel are commissioned, the spouse of the commissioned officer shall be discharged from Service. It is an offence for an officer to conceal his marriage to a soldier/rating/airman/airwoman for the purpose of preventing the officer or the soldier/rating/airman/airwoman from leaving the Service.”
Meanwhile, speaking about the. HTACOS, a retired major general, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the rule was intended to prevent soldiers from divulging information to foreign countries through their spouses.
He said there was no way an officer would not, on occasion, discuss job-related issues with their spouse, adding that doing so with a foreign partner could jeopardise the sovereignty of the officer’s country.
He said, “Obviously, the rule is meant for the protection of information and other security-related issues. Imagine a Nigerian soldier married to a Cameroonian or Liberian, and Nigeria goes into war with any of those countries, the general belief is that loyalty could be divided or something like that. If it is generally allowed, it won’t be in the interest of the nation, security-wise.”
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However, Group Captain Shehu Sadeeq (Rtd) said that while the condition was rooted in national security, such a clause should be reviewed in line with best practices in advanced countries where vetting is carried out on the intended spouse. He said many militaries across the globe maintain similar laws but do not outright ban them.
He explained that the HTCOS (Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service) is a document that the military designed itself to regulate how affairs within the military can be conducted, and is different from the Armed Forces Act.
According to him, the outright ban on foreign spouses is meant to prevent a potential security compromise because officers have access to classified information. He added that the provision is rooted in national security considerations and not cultural prejudice. He said marriage to a foreigner could unintentionally create a channel for intelligence leakage.
Secondly, he said the ban relates to citizenship and allegiance, adding that “a spouse’s foreign citizenship can raise questions about dual allegiance, like inheritance rights and residence privileges, in ways that might conflict with Nigeria’s security laws”.
The third reason, according to him, is operational deployment and posting risks. He said officers married to foreigners could face restrictions when posted abroad, particularly when occupying sensitive commands, maybe in intelligence, which complicates personnel management.
The final reason he advanced is reciprocity and diplomatic reasons.
According to Shehu, many militaries across the globe maintain similar laws. He , however, explained that it was not universal but also not unique to Nigeria.
