Tinubu Nominates Ex-CDS General Christopher Musa As New Defence Minister

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence. The nomination was formally conveyed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a letter.

General Musa is set to replace Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned from the Federal Executive Council earlier in the day on health grounds.

A seasoned military officer with more than three decades of service, Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 to October 2025. His distinguished career has earned him national and international recognition, including the prestigious Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.

Born in Sokoto in 1967, Musa completed his primary and secondary education in the state before moving to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1986 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree before being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991.

Since then, he has held several strategic and operational positions within the Nigerian Army. These include General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations, HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Army Policy and Plans; Infantry Representative on the Nigerian Army Armour Corps Training Team; and Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Infantry Centre and Corps.

General Musa also played key frontline roles in Nigeria’s counterinsurgency efforts. He commanded Sector 3 of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region in 2019. In 2021, he was appointed Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, the country’s flagship anti-terrorism operation. He later became Commander of the Infantry Corps before President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.

In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed strong confidence in Musa’s capacity to lead the Ministry of Defence and reinforce ongoing reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

The nomination is expected to be considered by the Senate in the coming days.