President Bola Tinubu is set to name a new Minister of Defence this week following the sudden resignation of the incumbent, Badaru Abubakar, who quit the cabinet on health grounds.
Abubakar’s resignation, which takes immediate effect, was conveyed in a letter dated December 1 and addressed to the President.
The development was announced in a statement issued Monday evening by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
“In a letter dated December 1, sent to President Bola Tinubu, Abubakar said he was quitting on health grounds,” the statement read.
“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,” it added, indicating that the process to replace the minister is already underway.
Abubakar, 63, served as a two-term governor of Jigawa State from 2015 to 2023 before his appointment as Minister of Defence on August 21, 2023.
His exit comes at a sensitive moment for the administration, which is grappling with rising insecurity that recently compelled President Tinubu to declare a nationwide security emergency.
The President had unveiled new measures including the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers, deployment of forest guards, and heightened security for schools, churches and mosques in vulnerable communities.
There have also been persistent calls from some analysts for Abubakar’s removal, with critics arguing that he was unfit to lead the ministry.
Hours before the announcement of his resignation, Tinubu met privately with former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), at the State House.
Our correspondent sighted Musa arriving at 7:03 p.m., dressed in dark-green northern-style traditional attire with elbow-length sleeves, before being led into the President’s office wing by a senior security official.
It was his first public meeting with the President since his retirement on October 24, 2025.
The purpose of the meeting could not be immediately confirmed, but it further fuelled speculation about who might replace Abubakar as Defence Minister.
