President Bola Tinubu has nominated Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence following the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.
The nomination was contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, according to a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
Onanuga said the President informed the Senate that Gen. Musa was being presented as “the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.”
He added that Tinubu expressed strong confidence in the nominee’s capacity to strengthen the country’s security framework.
According to the statement, the President said he was convinced that Gen. Musa would “provide the leadership required to further enhance Nigeria’s security architecture.”
Gen. Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 to October 2025 and won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, Musa had his early education in the state before proceeding to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991.
He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as Second Lieutenant in 1991 and held several key positions, including General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations, 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 and Operations, HQ Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3, Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, in 2021 and later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
The statement said the President urged the Senate to give the nomination expeditious consideration.
