President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, as the new Minister of Defence.
The nomination was conveyed in a letter sent to Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Monday, following the resignation of the former minister, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.
General Musa, who is 58 and turns 59 on December 25, previously served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 to October 2025 and is widely regarded for his distinguished military career. He won the prestigious Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, Musa had his primary and secondary education in the state before proceeding to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. He enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1986 and graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
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Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, Musa has held several key appointments in the Nigerian Army. These include General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations at Headquarters 81 Division; Commanding Officer of the 73 Battalion; Assistant Director of Operational Requirements in the Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative on the Training Team at Headquarters Armour Corps.
He also served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training and Operations, at the Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander of Sector 3 under Operation Lafiya Dole; and later Commander of Sector 3 in the Multinational Joint Task Force operating in the Lake Chad region.
In 2021, he became Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, and subsequently Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.
In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed strong confidence in General Musa’s capacity to steer the Ministry of Defence and support ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.