Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has dismissed reports suggesting that he plans to resign from office.
Musa spoke after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, describing the report as false and warning that legal action would be taken against those responsible for spreading the claim.
The minister, who arrived at the State House at about 3pm and left shortly after 4pm, said he was surprised by the speculation about his position and accused those behind the reports of attempting to undermine confidence in the government’s efforts to improve national security.
“I am not going anywhere. I have never discussed this. I don’t even know who the person is that brought that information,” Musa told State House correspondents.
“But whoever it is, we will take legal action against them. 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. 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.”
Musa said his meeting with the President was a routine security briefing during which Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the performance of the military and its ongoing operations across the country.
He also urged Nigerians to continue supporting the armed forces, stressing that the fight against insecurity requires cooperation between citizens and security agencies.
“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,” he said.
“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.”