The Senate will today, Wednesday screen former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, following his nomination by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the new Minister of Defence.
Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, announced this in a statement from his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Tuesday, describing the screening as a critical step in strengthening the nation’s security architecture.
Musa was nominated after the former Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru, resigned from office citing health-related reasons. President Tinubu subsequently forwarded Musa’s name to Senate President Godswill Akpabio for confirmation.
The Senate has already received the President’s request, which will be formally read during Wednesday’s plenary session,Bamidele said.
He noted that the chamber would immediately proceed with the screening, in line with Section 147 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He said:“We cannot delay such a request, especially at this crucial point in our national history.The matter touches directly on the nation’s core security interests, enabling the federal government to sustain its campaign against banditry, extremism, terrorism, and other threats to internal stability.”
He added that with the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on national security, cooperation between the Executive and Legislature has become even more imperative.
“The screening of the defence minister nominee is one of the clearest demonstrations of this synergy, undertaken purely in the national interest,” he said.
In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.
General Musa, 58, on December 25, is a distinguished soldier who served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.
General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career. His appointments include General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.
In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.