Badaru’s resignation: Tinubu nominates Christopher Musa as new Defence Minister

.As interest groups ask President to sack Matawale as Minister of State

CHINWE IFEZULIKE -ODITA , News Editor and CHIDIMMA UCHEGBU, Abuja

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.

The president, in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.

This was made known to the media in a press release signed by the presidents special assistant on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga on Tuesday.

General Musa a distinguished career soldier, will be 58 years old on December 25, this year.

He served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.

Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there, before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria.

He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.

General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career.

His appointments include General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.

In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.

In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.

In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

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