TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as the director-general for the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

Abubakar, a retired career foreign service officer, has been a senior special assistant to the president on foreign affairs/international relations.

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 (MNJTF), with headquarters in Ndjamena, Chad, before his appointment as a presidential aide.

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.

The former DG of the intelligence agency, Ayo Oke was sacked on 30 October 2017, following a long drawn probe into the $43.5m found in an apartment in Lagos.

The money, which also included £27,800 and some N23million Naira was linked to Oke. 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.