By Nelson Ogbu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence, following Monday’s resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.
The nomination was conveyed in a letter sent to Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday, according to Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who confirmed that General Musa has been selected to succeed Badaru Abubakar, who stepped down on health grounds.
General Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025 and is widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most experienced military strategists. He is a recipient of the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering, which he won in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, he completed his primary and secondary education in the state before attending the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1986 and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree, after which he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
Over the course of his career, Musa held several key command and operational positions, including General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations (81 Division); Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team at HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
He was also Deputy Chief of Staff (Training/Operations) at the Infantry Centre and Corps, and later Commander of Sector 3 in both Operation Lafiya Dole and the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
In 2021, he was appointed Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, before later serving as Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps. In 2023, President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff, a role he held until this year.
In the nomination letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s capacity to strengthen Nigeria’s defence apparatus and contribute to ongoing national security reforms, Onanuga said.
The Senate is expected to screen and confirm the nominee in the coming days.
