Recently, president Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed the former Chief of Defence Staff, Retired General Christopher Musa as Minister of Defence. This appointed followed the escalating insecurity in the Northern part of the country.
WITHIN NIGERIA took a look at the profiles of the former Defence Ministers from 1999 till date
Theophilus Danjuma(1999-2003)
Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma was born on December 9, 1938. He is also a retired lieutenant general in the Nigeria Army. Since the post-independence, he has played a significant role both politically and militarily in Nigeria.
Immediately after the inauguration of the Obasanjo civilian regime in 1999 he was appointed the the minister of defence by his old time friend, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He held the post until 2003 when he relinguished to successor.
He was also the Chief of Army staff from 1975 to October 1978, during General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military regime.
Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso (2003-2007)
Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso was born on October 21, 1956. He served as the governor of Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and also from 2011 to 2015.
However, when he lost his re-election bid in 2003, he was appointed the Minister of Defence by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. Kwakwanso then became the first Minister of Defence of the Fourth Republic without any prior military background.
He served as the Minister of Defence from 2003-2007 under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mahmud Yayale Ahmed (2007-2008)
Mahmud Yayale Ahmed was born on April 15, 1952. He was appointed the Defence Minister on July 26, 2007 by then President Umaru Yar’Adua. He has no military experience prior to his appointment.
However, on September 8, 2008, he was appointed as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, thereby replacing his predecessor, Babagana Kingibe.
Shettima Mustafa (2008-2009)
Shettima Mustafa was born on 26 November 1939. He died on November 2022.
However, Shettima Mustafa was appointed Defence Minister by President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2008. On July 14, 2008, Shettima traded places with Godwin Abbe, becoming Minister of the Interior. He left office in March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.
Godwin Osagie Abbe (2009-2010)
Godwin Osagie Abbe was born on 10 January 1949 and died on 21 December 2024. He was a retired Nigerian Army Major General. He served as minister of interior from 2007 to 2009 before his appointment as minister of defence from 2009 to 2010 by Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Abbe joined the military in 1967 as a private. He was commissioned second lieutenant in July 1968, and was promoted colonel in 1986. He served during the Nigerian Civil War. He earned a postgraduate diploma in International Relations from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
During the military era in Nigeria, he was military governor of Akwa Ibom State from 1988–1990 and Rivers State 1990–1991.
He was also general officer commanding (GOC) 2 Division Nigerian Army; Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and Commander, National War College. He retired in 1999 with the rank of major general.
After leaving the army, Godwin Abbe joined People’s Democratic Party in 1999, and became chairman of the party in Edo State.
Adetokunbo Kayode
Adetokunbo Kayode was born on 31 October 1960. He is a corporate lawyer, tax expert and international arbitrator.
Kayode attended CMS Grammar School, in Lagos. He studied law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria Law School, Lagos, Strategic Leadership at the Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Strategy and Public Communications at the World Bank/ Annenberg Program of the University of Southern California Libraries, as well as Strategic Negotiations training at Harvard University.
He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a Life Bencher which is the highest legal rank and honor in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration, UK; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Mediators and Conciliators of Nigeria; and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
He served the Federal government of Nigeria as cabinet minister in different positions including Culture and Tourism; Labour/Employment; Federal Attorney General and Hon Minister of Justice; and Minister of Defence.
He chairs the Peace and Security Committee of the Pan African Lawyers Union, Daresallam, Tanzania.
Haliru Mohammed Bello
Haliru Mohammed Bello was on born 9 October 1945 in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state. After his primary education in Birnin Kebbi he attended Government College, Zaria, now Berewa College. He was admitted to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1966, and studied veterinary medicine.
He was trained in veterinary medicine. He held various administrative positions under the military governments before 1999. He was the Minister of Communications from June 2001 to May 2003. After he left office he was indicted in a bribery scandal involving the German telecom company Siemens AG.
He was Defense Minister from July 2011 until June 2012. He was appointed the acting National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria on 25 May 2015.
In 1977 Mohammed was appointed Commissioner for Agriculture for Sokoto State under the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo, and then Commissioner for Education for Sokoto State. After the return to civilian rule in 1979 Mohammed ran unsuccessfully for Deputy Governor of Sokoto State on the Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP) platform.
Olusola Obada(2012-2013)
Olusola Obada was born on 27 June 1951 into the Agbejanlabofa family of Ibodi in Ijeshaland. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. She completed her basic education at UMC Demonstration School, Ibadan and her secondary school education at Queen’s School, Ede, Osun State.
She is a trained lawyer. She served as deputy governor of Osun State from 2003 to 2010.
She also served as Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence from 2011 to 2012 and then as Nigeria’s Minister of Defence from 2012 to 2013 under the Cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan.
She is an alumnus of Watford College of Technology, Watford, United Kingdom where she studied Advertising Administration before proceeding to the University of Buckingham, Buckingham, United Kingdom to study Law.
Labaran Maku(2013-2014)
Labaran Maku was born on 1 January 1962 in Wakama District, Nassarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nassarawa State.
He served as Minister of Information from 2010 to 2015 and as deputy governor of Nasarawa State from 2003 to 2007.
Maku attended St. Michael’s Primary School, Aloce, between 1970 and 1976; Zawan Teacher’s College, Bukuru-Jos, Plateau State, from 1976 to 1981; and the University of Jos, Plateau State, from 1983 to 1987.
He took to politics and leadership early in life and held the position of president of the University of Jos Students Union and public relations officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) while in school.
He was appointed the Minister of Defence by Goodluck Jonathan in 2013. He was later replaced by Aliyu Mohammed Gusau.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and education and has attended numerous training programmes, international conferences, presidential retreats and seminars.
Aliyu Mohammed Gusau(2014-2015)
Aliyu Mohammed Gusau was born on 18 May 1943. He has held several high level national security, military and intelligence offices, and has participated in several military coups, playing a central role in founding the Fourth Nigerian Republic.
He was appointed the Minister of Defence in 2014; a position he held till 2015.He also served as National Security Adviser to three presidents; he was also the Chief of Army Staff during Ernest Shonekan and briefly Sani Abacha’s regime, headed different intelligence agencies, and was commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali (2015-2019)
Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali was born 25 August 1959 is a retired Nigerian Army brigadier general and former Minister of Defence of Nigeria appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015.
Dan-Ali was born on August 25, 1959, in Zamfara State. He attended Birnin Magaji Town Primary School (1966 -1972) for his elementary education and Government Secondary School, Shinkafi (1972-1977) for his secondary education.
He received his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Photogrammetric and Surveying from Kaduna Polytechnic (1977-1982) and possesses a master’s degrees in Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) from Bayero University Kano (2004-2005) and a master’s degree in Security Studies from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (2009).
Dan Ali was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army in 1984 through the Short Service Commission at the Nigerian Defence Academy. Dan-Ali has served in different command and staff capacities, some of which include commanding the Nigerian contingent supporting the United Nations Africa Hybrid Mission in Sudan.
Dan Ali was on the Directing Staff of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from 2003 -2005 and was Chief Instructor (CI) at the Nigerian Defence Academy in 2010. He was also Acting Director Military Training before getting posted to the Ministry of Defence’s Logistics Department as Deputy Director. He retired from the Nigerian Army on August 30, 2013.
Bashir Salihi Magashi(2019-2023)
Bashir Salihi Magashi was born on1 October 1949. He is a retired Nigerian Army major general.
He served as the defence minister of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. Prior to this, he also served as governor of Sokoto State from August 1990 to January 1992 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, and as commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy from 1998 to 1999.
Magashi was admitted to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1968 and commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1971 as a member of the 5th Regular Combatant Course. He also attended the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where he obtained an advanced diploma in public administration, LL.B. Honors and a call to the Nigerian Bar with a BL Hons in 1984.
Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (2023-2025)
Mohammed Badaru Abubakar was born on 19 September 1962.. He served as a minister of defence from 21 August 2023 to 1 December 2025. He resigned on December 1, 2025 for a health reason. Prior to this, he previously served as the governor of Jigawa State from 2015 to 2023.
Badaru, as he is popularly called, was a one-time chairman of the Nigerian Presidential committee on fertilizer distribution to farmers, and also a former chairman of a presidential committee on non-oil revenue. He is the founder of Talamiz Group.
Abubakar is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he obtained a B.Sc Accounting degree. While studying at the university, he became involved in community activism, sport and business. Badaru is also an alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru.
General Christopher Gwabin Musa(2025-present)
General Christopher Gwabin Musa was born in the defunct North-Western State, now Sokoto state on 25 December 1967. He is a retired Nigerian army general.
He was appointed the minister of defence on December 1, 2015.
He previously served as the 18th chief of defence staff of Nigeria from 23 June 2023 until his retirement on 30 October 2025.
Musa hails from Zangon Kataf, Southern Kaduna State, Nigeria In 1974, Musa attended Marafa Danbaba Primary School in Sokoto and left for Model Primary School, located on Dorowa Road, Sokoto, in 1978, where he remained until 1980. He then underwent vocational training in Gaummi, Sokoto, between 1980 and 1981.
In 1981, he was enrolled in Federal Government College, Sokoto, completing his O’ levels in 1985. He was part of the National Cadet Corps while enrolled there. He was admitted to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria, and was there until 1986.
In 1986, Musa was enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons) on graduation on 21 September 1991 as a member of the 38th Regular Course, and got commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a 2nd Lieutenant.
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