Fmr CDS Musa to replace Abubakar as Defence Minister

There are strong indications that Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa might be appointed as replacement for Badaru Abubakar, who recently resigned as Minister of Defence, curiously on health grounds.

According to reliable presidential sources, Badaru Abubakar was forced to resign while this new development will place Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence, in a junior position to Christopher Musa, who was his subordinate just a few months ago.

President Bola Tinubu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, met with General Musa on Monday evening at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja. While the reason for the meeting wasn’t immediately clear, it may have been connected to the forced resignation of Badaru Abubakar.

Theliberationnews reports that Former Defence Minister Badaru Abubakar resigned on Monday with immediate effect, citing health reasons in a letter dated December 1 to President Bola Tinubu. President Tinubu is expected to announce Badaru’s replacement to the Senate later this week.

Badaru Abubakar, 63, served as the governor of Jigawa State for two terms from 2015 to 2023. On August 21, 2023, President Tinubu appointed Badaru whose resignation comes amid President Tinubu’s declaration of a national security emergency, with plans to elaborate on its scope in due course.

Musa arrived at the State House at 7:03 p.m. on Monday and was escorted into the President’s office area by a senior security official. He wore dark-green traditional northern attire with elbow-length sleeves. This marks President Tinubu’s first public meeting with Musa since his retirement on October 24, 2025.

The North has been hit hard by insecurity, with incidents like the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi, an attack on worshippers in Eruku, Kwara, and the kidnapping of Catholic schoolchildren in Minna. These events have pushed security agencies to step up counterterrorism and anti-kidnapping efforts across the North-West and North-Central regions.

Musa was born on December 25, 1967, in Sokoto, which was then part of the former North-Western State (now Sokoto State), Nigeria, and comes from Zangon Kataf in Southern Kaduna State, Nigeria.

He started at Marafa Danbaba Primary School in Sokoto in 1974, then moved to Model Primary School on Dorowa Road, Sokoto, in 1978, where he stayed until 1980. After that, he completed vocational training in Gaummi, Sokoto, from 1980 to 1981.

He enrolled at Federal Government College, Sokoto, in 1981 and completed his O’ levels in 1985. During his time there, he was a member of the National Cadet Corps. He then attended the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria, where he remained until 1986.

In 1986, Musa joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, earning a Bachelor of Science (Hons) upon graduating in 1991, after which he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant.

In September 1991, he joined the 38th Regular Course 21 at the Nigerian Defence Academy, completing a Mechanical Transportation Officers Course in 1992. Musa took the Young Officers Course in Infantry in 1993, followed by the Regimental Signal Officers Course in 1998, and in 2000 attended the Junior Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji.

From 2004 to 2005, he completed the Senior Course at the same college. Between 2007 and 2008, he earned an Advanced Diploma in Security Management from the University of Lagos. In 2012–2013, he obtained an Advanced Diploma in Defence and Strategies and a Master of Science in Military Science from the International College of Defence Studies, National Defence University, Changping, China. In 2017, he attended the Combined Joint Land Component Commander’s Course on Leadership at the US Army War College.