Following Oke’s ouster, Buhari appoints substantive NIA DG

President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday approved the appointment of Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as the substantive Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), following the ouster of Ayodele Oke.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the new DG, a retired career Foreign Service officer, served as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs/International Relations until his appointment

Adesina said Abubakar’s appointment took immediate effect.

The statement read in part, “Abubakar had extensive experience working with the United Nations in peace support operations, mediation process, preventive diplomacy and good offices, as well as the promotion of good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights.

“He also briefly served as Senior Adviser at the Multinational Joint Task Force with headquarters in Ndjamena, Chad, before his appointment as SSAP.

“Abubakar holds a B.A degree in French Language and Literature, and an M.A degree in Francophone Maghrebian Literature, both from Bayero University, Kano. He is also fluent in English and Arabic.

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“The appointment takes immediate effect.”

Buhari had on October 30, 2017 sacked the former DG, Ayodele Oke.

The president had on April 19 suspended him and constituted a three-man committee led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate him over the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, for which NIA laid claim.

The committee had the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, as members.

Only recently, personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) foiled an attempted arrest of Oke by the EFCC, causing quite a stir. At the moment, the status of the effort to arrest and prosecute Oke remains unknown.

 

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