Tinubu Nominates Ex-CDS As Defence Minister.

Christopher Musa.

President Bola Tinubu has nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence.

The President sent a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio confirming Musa’s nomination to replace Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.

General Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He is also a recipient of the 2012 Colin Powell Award for Soldiering.

Born in Sokoto in 1967, Musa completed his primary and secondary education in the state before attending the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and joined the Nigerian Defence Academy that same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991.

Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, Musa has held several key positions in the Army, including General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at Headquarters 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director of Operational Requirements at the Army Policy and Plans Department; and Infantry Representative on the Training Team at the Nigerian Army Armour Corps Headquarters.

In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations at the Infantry Centre and Corps Headquarters; Commander of Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander of Sector 3 in the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.

By 2021, he was appointed Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.

In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed full confidence in Musa’s capacity to head the Defence Ministry and bolster Nigeria’s security framework.