Ahmed Rufai Abubakar Appointed NIA Chief

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as the new Director General for the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

Abubakar, a retired career foreign service officer, was before his new appointment, the Senior Special Assistant to the President (SSAP) on Foreign Affairs/International Relations.

Abubakar has 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 with the Multinational Joint Task Force

(MNJTF), 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.

The appointment takes immediate effect, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The former DG of the intelligence agency, Ayo Oke was sacked last October, following a long drawn probe into the $43.5m found in an apartment in Lagos.

The money, which also included £27,800 and some N23 million was linked to the NIA.

It was found in an empty flat at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi.

Oke, also a career ambassador, was appointed by former president Goodluck Jonathan in November 2013. He was initially suspended in April 2017 and let go in October.