President Bola Tinubu has formally nominated the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence. The nomination was conveyed in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, following the resignation of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday.
General Musa, aged 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. A decorated senior officer, he received the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012. Born in Sokoto in 1967, he completed his early education there before proceeding to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and immediately enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991.
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, Musa has held several high-level positions throughout his career. His roles include General Staff Officer 1 for Training and Operations at Headquarters 81 Division, Commanding Officer of the 73 Battalion, and Assistant Director for Operational Requirements in the Department of Army Policy and Plans. He also served as an Infantry Representative on the Training Team at the Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
By 2019, he had taken on key operational leadership roles—including Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Operations at the Infantry Centre and Corps, Commander of Sector 3 in Operation Lafiya Dole, and later Commander of Sector 3 in the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
In 2021, General Musa became Theatre Commander for Operation Hadin Kai and subsequently Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps. President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023, a position he held until his retirement in 2025.
In his communication to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence that General Musa’s experience and leadership will strengthen Nigeria’s defence framework and enhance ongoing security reforms.