By Muhyideen Jimoh.
President Bola Tinubu has nominated retired Gen. Christopher Musa as the new Minister of Defence.
A letter conveying the nomination was sent to Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday for confirmation.
Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, announced the development in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.
The retired general’s nomination follows Monday’s resignation of Defence Minister Badaru Abubakar on health grounds, a decision promptly accepted by President Bola Tinubu.
Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until his retirement in October.
He previously won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, he attended primary and secondary school 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.
He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and held several key appointments, including General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations, HQ 81 Division, and Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion.
His other postings included Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans, and Infantry Representative on the Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training and Operations, Infantry Centre and Corps, and later as Commander, Sector 3 of Operation Lafiya Dole and the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
He became Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, in 2021, and subsequently Commander, Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.
In the nomination letter, Tinubu said he was confident that Musa would further strengthen the nation’s defence and security architecture.
