President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly accepted the resignation of the Director-General of Nigeria’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
This was disclosed by Abubakar to newsmen on August 24 in Abuja.
Ahmed Rufai Abubakar was appointed NIA DG by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.
Resignation disclosure
One of Abubakar’s public appearances with President Tinubu was at the Saudi-Africa Summit in November 2023 in Riyadh.
Nairametrics previously reported that the summit provided an opportunity for President Tinubu to deepen the partnership between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attract more foreign direct investment into the country.
The presidency disclosed at the time that top government officials who travelled with the President included the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
Abubakar was silent regarding the details of his resignation, claiming it was nothing serious.
He thanked Tinubu for giving him the opportunity to serve Nigeria under his leadership for an extended period of 15 months, describing it as a rare opportunity to serve two presidents.
He said:
“It’s a routine thing from time to time to brief the president on situations, and today is no exception. After the briefing today, I tendered my resignation, and Mr. President graciously approved and accepted it.
“So, I thanked him very much, and I promised to remain professionally dedicated to our country and noble causes.
“I’m very, very grateful for the opportunity that the president gave me—to actually serve the country under his leadership—the encouragement I received, the confidence he had in me and my service, the opportunity to listen to me, to read briefing notes and advice, and so on. I think this means everything to me, and I have had the opportunity to mentor officers and staff during all the time I have been DG. This is the seventh year, by the way.”
“There are quite a number of reasons one might do this—some personal family issues—but nothing very serious, actually, and the friendship will continue. I discussed this with Mr. President, and he understood very well.”
More Insights
- In his career path, Rufai also served as Senior Special Assistant to former President Buhari on Foreign Affairs/International Relations.
- He had stints with the United Nations in the areas of mediation, and diplomacy, among others.
- The NIA is a federal government agency responsible for overseeing foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations.
- The presidency is yet to comment on the development as of the time of this article, but it is expected that Abubakar’s replacement will be announced soon to fill the crucial role in the NIA.
