BREAKING NEWS: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Finally Nominates Former Chief of Defence Staff Christopher Musa As Defence Minister
The nomination was announced in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), on Tuesday.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, as the new Minister of Defence following the ‘resignation’ of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday.
The nomination was announced in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), on Tuesday.
This development confirms SaharaReporters’ exclusive story which revealed that Christopher Musa was set to replace Badaru.
Musa met with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday evening. This marked his first public meeting with the President since Tinubu retired him on October 24, 2025.
Sources told SaharaReporters that during the meeting, President Tinubu informed Musa that he would “succeed Badaru as Defence Minister”.
According to a letter sent to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Presidency said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.”
The letter also noted that “President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.”
General Musa, who will turn 58 on December 25, previously served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025.
The Presidency highlighted his distinguished military record, stating that “General Musa, 58, on December 25, is a distinguished soldier who 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, Musa completed his early education in the state before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria.
He graduated in 1986 and immediately gained admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy, where “he earned a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.”
He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army “as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career.”
Over the years, he has held several key operational and administrative roles, including General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at Headquarters 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements at the Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member of the Training Team at Headquarters Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
His more recent assignments include serving in 2019 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, he was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, before later becoming Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps. President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.
The letter to the Senate added that “President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.”