Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, is the leading candidate to succeed Badaru Abubakar as Nigeria’s Minister of Defence.
This potential appointment would place the current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, in a junior role to Musa, his former superior from just months ago.
The development follows President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with General Musa at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Monday evening.
While the agenda was not officially stated, the meeting is widely believed to be connected to the ministerial vacancy.
Badaru Abubakar resigned abruptly on Monday, citing health reasons in a letter to the President. His departure coincides with President Tinubu’s declaration of a national security emergency, amid a surge of violent incidents in northern Nigeria, including mass abductions and attacks.
General Musa, who retired from the military on October 24, 2025, has a extensive security background. His career began with commissioning into the Nigerian Army in 1991, following studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy.
He holds advanced qualifications in defence and security from institutions in Nigeria, China, and the United States.
President Tinubu is expected to formally nominate Badaru’s replacement to the Senate later this week.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
