Dr Nafisat Makinde
President Bola Tinubu has nominated General Christopher Musa, the immediate past chief of defence staff, to serve as Nigeria’s new minister of defence, in a highly unusual transition from the highest military office to the civilian portfolio that oversees the armed forces.
The nomination was formally communicated to the Senate on Tuesday, barely 48 hours after the resignation of the former minister, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said Mr Tinubu was “confident that General Christopher Gwabin Musa will deploy his wealth of experience and proven leadership to the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture”.
General Musa, 58, relinquished his position as chief of defence staff in October after a two-year tenure that began in June 2023.
A career infantry officer commissioned in 1991, he previously served as theatre commander of Operation Hadin Kai in the north-east and commanded Sector 3 of the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
If confirmed by the Senate, General Musa will become the first officer in decades to move directly from the uniformed leadership of the Nigerian military to the political headship of the defence ministry.
Senate sources indicated that screening and confirmation hearings are likely to commence next week.
