JUST IN: Nigeria’s Defence Minister Badaru Resigns as Sources Hint at Replacement by Former CDS, Musa

Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Nigeria’s Defence Minister, has resigned from his position on Monday night following challenges with his health, a letter from the presidency signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, says.

Though not explicitly stated, top government sources have also hinted that former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, is likely to step in as the country’s next Defence Minister.

A report from the SaharaReporters noted that General Musa met with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday evening; the meeting marks his first public appearance with the President since Tinubu retired him barely two months ago.

SaharaReporters quoted that President Tinubu informed Musa that he would “succeed Badaru as Defence Minister”. But PIJAlance has not been able to independently confirm this.

Meanwhile, in a letter announcing the resignation of Abubakar, President Tinubu “has accepted the resignation and thanked Abubakar for his services to the nation.”

“President Tinubu will likely inform the Senate of Badaru’s successor later this week,” the letter notes.

Worthy of note, Nigeria’s insecurity has quadrupled in numbers with a spate of kidnappings for ransom and killings. The atrocious acts which are often perpetrated by criminal gangs like ISWAP and unknown others, locally referred to as bandits, have upturned Nigeria’s international image, attracting comments from personalities like the United States President, Donald Trump.

Trump had, in recent times, redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to insecurity challenges, while expressly branding the killings as “Christian genocide”.

Although President Tinubu described President Trump’s claim as “a gross misrepresentation of reality”, the realities since then have been overwhelmingly alarming. For example, over 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped in Niger State, 38 have been kidnapped in Kwara State, while roughly 200 have been kidnapped in Kebbi State.

Though some of the kidnapped victims have been rescued, some, like the Catholic priest, Venerable Edwin Achi, died in the custody of kidnappers. ISWAP, a faction of the violent terrorist group Boko Haram, has also murdered Nigeria’s Brigadier General Musa Uba after he was ambushed and kidnapped.

Seeing the heightened level of insecurity challenges, President Tinubu has declared a national security emergency, and the resignation of the 63-year-old Badaru Abubakar is coming after the declaration.

Abubakar was a two-term governor of Jigawa State from 2015 to 2023. He was appointed as a minister of defence on August 21, 2023, by President Tinubu.

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