The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), on Tuesday dismissed reports claiming he had resigned from office, describing the rumours as shocking and vowing to take legal action against those responsible for spreading the information.
Musa said he had no knowledge of the source of the reports and insisted that he had neither considered nor discussed resigning from his position.
Speaking with State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the former Chief of Defence Staff said, “I am not going anywhere. I have never discussed this. I don’t even know who the person is that brought that information. But whoever it is, we will take legal action against them.”
The minister attributed the rumours to individuals who were unhappy with what he described as improvements in the country’s security situation.
“We are surprised. I was shocked when I saw that. I don’t know where that came from. But you always expect that there will be people who will not be happy when things are going well,” he said.
Musa said attempts to suggest otherwise were aimed at undermining public confidence in the government’s security efforts.
“Security is improving, things are getting better, and for them, that is a sad point. They always want to make it look as if it is not so,” he added.
He described his meeting with President Tinubu as a routine security briefing, adding that the President expressed satisfaction with the military’s performance.
“I just came back from briefing Mr President on the current security situation, and he is very happy with us. We are going to continue doing well,” Musa said.
The minister also appealed for continued support from Nigerians, saying cooperation between citizens and security agencies remained crucial in the fight against terrorism and banditry.
“I want to seize this opportunity to appreciate Nigerians for all the support. The support has been massive. To defeat the terrorists and the bandits is a whole-of-society approach. Nigerians have keyed into it, and things are getting better, and they will continue to improve,” he said.
