By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has nominated the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence.
The nomination was communicated to Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a letter from the President, announcing General Musa as the replacement for Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.
General Musa, who turns 58 on 25 December, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025 and is widely regarded as a seasoned and highly decorated officer.
He received the prestigious Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, he completed his primary and secondary education in the state before proceeding to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria.
He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991.
Commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, General Musa has held several strategic positions throughout his career.
These include General Staff Officer 1 (Training/Operations) at Headquarters 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative on the Training Team at Headquarters Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff (Training/Operations) at the Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps, Commander of Sector 3 under Operation Lafiya Dole, and later Commander of Sector 3 of the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
By 2021, he had been appointed Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, and subsequently became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before President Tinubu named him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.
In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed strong confidence in General Musa’s capacity to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security framework.
The announcement was made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on Tuesday.
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