The Federal Minister of Defence of Nigeria is the Federal Executive Council official who leads the Defence Ministry of Nigeria. The Defence Minister's main responsibility is to manage all branches of the Nigerian Armed Forces, to maintain a modern, competent, and professional military force for the protection of the national territory, maritime interests, airspace, and constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
List of Ministers
Minister of Defence (1960-1966) Prime MinisterNameTerm startTerm endSir Abubakar Tafawa BalewaMuhammadu Ribadu19601965Inuwa Wada19651966
Federal Commissioner of Defence (1966-1979) Head of StateNameTerm startTerm endHimselfYakubu Gowon1 August 196629 July 1975Murtala MuhammedIlliya Bisalla29 July 197513 February 1976HimselfOlusegun Obasanjo13 February 19761 October 1979
Minister of Defence (1979-1983) PresidentNameTerm startTerm endShehu ShagariIya Abubakar24 October 1979January 1981Akanbi OniyangiJanuary 19811983
Federal Commissioner of Defence (1983-1999) Head of StateNameTerm startTerm endMuhammadu Buhari Ibrahim BabangidaDomkat Bali1984December 1989HimselfIbrahim BabangidaDecember 1989August 1990Ibrahim Babangida HimselfSani AbachaSeptember 1990June 1998HimselfAbdulsalami AbubakarJune 1998May 1999
Minister of Defence (1999-Present) PresidentNameTerm startTerm endOlusegun ObasanjoTheophilus DanjumaJune 1999May 2003Rabiu KwankwasoJuly 2003May 2007Umaru Musa Yar'AduaYayale Ahmed26 July 20078 September 2008Shettima Mustapha17 December 200814 July 2009Godwin Abbe14 July 200917 March 2010Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Goodluck JonathanAdetokunbo Kayode6 April 201030 June 2011Goodluck JonathanHaliru Mohammed BelloJuly 201122 June 2012Olusola ObadaJuly 2012September 2013Labaran Maku (Supervising)September 2013March 2014Aliyu Mohammed Gusau5 March 201429 May 2015Muhammadu BuhariMansur Mohammed Dan Ali11 November 2015 29 May 2019Bashir Salihi Magashi21 August 201929 May 2023Bola TinubuMohammed Badaru Abubakar21 August 20231 December 2025Christopher Gwabin Musa4 December 2025Present
References
External links Official Website