The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, has tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu Abubakar.
Shortly after meeting with the President, Abubakar revealed this to State House reporters on Saturday. He claimed to have discussed it with Tinubu, who agreed with him.
Abubakar stated that President Bola Tinubu understood what he was talking about.
Abubakar stated that the objective of his visit to Tinubu at the Presidential Villa was to “brief Mr. President on issues and today is no exception.”
“I tendered my resignation following the briefing, and Mr. President graciously approved and accepted the resignation.”
“For giving me the opportunity to serve Nigeria under his transformational leadership for an extended period of 15 months – which is very rare – to have the opportunity to serve two presidents at a stretch,” he added he made use of the opportunity to thank Tinubu
Though he blamed his decision on some personal and family issues, he, however, did not disclose the main reason.
“There are quite a number of reasons one would do that. Some personal, family issues. But nothing very serious actually.
“I discussed with Mr. President, he understood very well, and I promised to remain steadfast with issues and the security situations of the country,” he stated.
He was appointed as NIA boss in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who extended his stay in office in December 2021.
Ahmed Abubakar, a 71-year-old retired career foreign service officer from Katsina State, joined the security department of the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1993.
In 2015, he was appointed senior special assistant to the president (SSAP) on international relations and foreign affairs.
He attended Bayero University in Kano, where he bagged bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French. He also speaks English and Arabic fluently.
