President Tinubu Appoints Ex-Chief of Defence Staff Christopher Musa as Defence Minister
President Bola Tinubu has put forward the nomination of Christopher Gwabin Musa to serve as the new minister of defence.
In a letter addressed to Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, Tinubu communicated Musa’s selection as the replacement for Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who stepped down on Monday.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Tinubu expressed confidence that Musa would provide strengthened leadership for the defence ministry at a time when the government has declared a national security emergency.
The statement reads: “General Musa, 58, 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.”
It added that General Musa, born in Sokoto in 1967, completed his basic education there before proceeding to the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria.
He completed his studies in 1986 and joined the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, marking the beginning of a long and notable military career.
His previous roles 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 held positions 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.
By 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai.
He later served as Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
Musa’s nomination was made less than a day after he held a private meeting with Tinubu at the State House on Monday evening.