UPDATE - Nigerian president nominates successor to resigned defense minister

UPDATES WITH NOMINATION OF NEW DEFENSE MINISTER; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Mevlut Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has nominated a new defense minister after the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who stepped down citing health reasons amid heightened security challenges.

Tinubu nominated Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday, according to a statement from the president's special adviser Bayo Onanuga.

Musa, 58, a seasoned military officer with over three decades of service, was appointed chief of defense staff by Tinubu in 2023, serving until this October, after a distinguished career that included leading Operation Lafiya Dole, commanding the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region, and receiving the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.

If confirmed by the upper house, Gen. Musa will take charge at a time when the country faces an increasing number of attacks and kidnappings.

In a letter to Tinubu on Monday, Abubakar cited health reasons for stepping down. The president accepted the resignation and thanked him for his service, according to a statement from Onanuga.

The 63-year-old former minister served two terms as governor of Jigawa state from 2015 to 2023 and was appointed by Tinubu on Aug. 21, 2023.

Abubakar’s resignation came after Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency last week after a series of killings and kidnappings in the West African country.

He directed Nigeria's secret police, known as the Department of State Services, to deploy trained forest guards to flush out terrorists in the woodlands.

The president called on the National Assembly to review laws to allow states to establish state police where necessary and urged local authorities and religious institutions to improve security measures.

Last month, more than 300 schoolchildren were kidnapped from a Catholic school in the country’s north-central Niger State. As many as 50 managed to escape, but the remainder are still being held.

US President Donald Trump also threatened Nigeria with possible military action for the alleged killing of Christians. Abuja, however, has pushed back on these claims, describing them as a misrepresentation of reality.