APPLICATION OPENS FOR SHORT SERVICE COMBATANT COMMISSION COURSE 50/2027

 

APPLICATION OPENS FOR SHORT SERVICE COMBATANT COMMISSION COURSE 50/2027

The Nigerian Army invites eligible Nigerians to apply for commission into the Nigerian Army as Short Service Combatant Commission (SSCC) Officers.

The SSCC application is open to qualified civilians and serving military personnel who meet the stipulated requirements. Upon successful completion of training and commissioning, SSCC Officers will serve in the Combat Arms, Infantry and Armour Corps  and Combat Support Arms , Artillery, Engineers, Signals and Intelligence Corps.

HOW TO APPLY

Prospective applicants are to visit the official Nigerian Army recruitment portal:

nashortservice.army.mil.ng

Select the SSCC option and carefully follow the application instructions.

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE

The general public is advised to disregard any online application portal or recruitment announcement purportedly opened before this official publication. Applicants are also advised to rely only on information released through official Nigerian Army channels.

Prospective applicants and members of the public are encouraged to watch out for official recruitment jingles on television and radio stations following this publication.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

📅 Saturday, 17 October 2026

For further inquiries, call:

📞 07016874003

📞 07047340295

Lines are available daily from 0800–1800 hours.

Join the Nigerian Army. Serve the Nation. 

This was posted on the Nigerian army official page: Gentlemen, it is that time of the year again. 

There is a slight adjustment to this year's requirement.

 In previous online registration cycles, referee information was not directly typed into the portal during the initial submission phase. Instead, you downloaded physical forms to fill out offline.

For the current Short Service Combatant (SSCC 50/2027) cycle, you still need to follow a physical attestation structure, though you must strictly follow the step-by-step instructions displayed inside the Official NA Short Service Portal as you fill your data.

📋 The Referee & Attestation Requirements

Even if the online portal doesn't ask you to type in their contact details on day one, you must have these exact documents ready for your physical screening:The 2 Recognizable Referees: 

Your referees cannot just be anyone. They must hail from your state of origin and fit into either of these categories:A Local Government Chairman or Local Government Secretary.

A Military Officer from the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, or Air Force) not below the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (or its equivalent in the Navy/Air Force).

A Police Officer not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).Passport Photographs: You must affix recent passport photographs of both referees directly onto their respective physical Letters of Attestation.

Institutional Attestation: Separate from your two referees, you must also obtain a formal Letter of Attestation directly from your degree-awarding institution or university.

For the Course 50/2027 portal cycle, the Nigerian Army added a dedicated dropdown menu to select your preferred examination / screening center right during the initial online application process. This did not happen last year.

 Aside from the exam center choice and portal formatting, the Nigerian Army has adjusted specific cutoff years, age milestones, and contact requirements. 

. Shorter Graduation Year WindowLast Year (Course 49): The portal accepted degree and HND credentials obtained from 2017 to date.This Year (Course 50): The window has moved up by a year. The military guidelines state that only tertiary academic credentials obtained from Year 2018 to date will be considered. If you graduated in 2017, you are no longer eligible for the SSCC path.

. Strict Age Cutoff Milestone Last Year (Course 49): Applicants had to fit the 23–27 age bracket calculated precisely by January 31, 2026.This Year (Course 50): The target commissioning date dictates that you must be between 23 and 27 years old by January 10, 2027. Anyone turning 28 on or before that exact day will be disqualified.

. Direct Portal URL Transition: Last Year (Course 49): Applications were hosted via the legacy military secretary address (recruitment.army.mil.ng).This Year (Course 50): The army transitioned completely to a dedicated URL: Official NA Short Service Portal. Leaving out the "nashortservice" subdomain will redirect you to older recruitment cycles.

If you are confused about what SSC means and how the military recruit graduates into it officers caders.

Watch this video.

Please note I do not speak for the army in any capacity; confirm any information from the official army website, as information and policies change from time to time.