President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new directors-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to a statement by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed is the new director-general of the NIA.
He replaces Ahmed Abubakar Rufai who resigned his appointment on Saturday.
Also, Yusuf Magaji Bichi yesterday resigned as the director-general of the Department of State Services. Consequently, he was replaced by Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi.
Presidential spokesman Ngelale said Ambassador Mohammed has had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.
According to him, he had served in various roles, culminating in his promotion to the rank of director and his subsequent appointment as the head of the Nigerian mission to Libya.
“The 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, had served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House, Abuja.
“The new DSS director-general, Mr Adeola Ajayi, rose to attain his current post of assistant director-general of the Service. At various times, he had served as state director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi,” he said.
He said the new appointments follow the resignation of the previous NIA and DSS chiefs.
According to him, President Tinubu expects that the new security chiefs will work diligently to reposition the two intelligence agencies for better results and to bring their experience to bear in tackling the security challenges bedeviling the country in collaboration with sister agencies and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
It had been reported that the outgone NIA DG Ahmed Abubakar had been told to resign his appointment contrary to his stated reason of family reasons.
Abubakar had told the press on Saturday night that he decided to resign due to “some personal issues, but nothing serious.”
“I tendered my resignation and Mr President graciously approved and accepted it,” Abubakar had said.
But security sources told our correspondent that following the former DG’s visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu he was asked to resign due to “severe intelligence lapses” during the recent #EndBadGovernance protests across the country.
“It was not just about the hunger protests,” one source said, “it was also about how the protests evolved and escalated, with Russian flags flying in some states and protesters openly calling for military take-over. The thing looked so well-coordinated it is difficult to understand how the Intel agency missed it.”
Another source said Abubakar may have fallen out of favour with the national security adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, whose office supervises the agency.
According to the source, Abubakar had planned to travel on Saturday night and had gone to inform President Tinubu when he advised to resign immediately.
Reactions Trail Appointment of DSS, NIA DGs
Some security experts have commended the changes in the leadership of the intelligence agencies, the DSS and NIA.
Major General James Nyam (rtd) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his choice of new DSS DG, describing him as “a round peg in a round hole.”
Hailing the appointments an outstanding development in the country’s fight against internal enemies. General Nyam said the appointed security chiefs will improve the fight against criminality owing to their track record in the service.
He said, “I happen to know the new DG DSS very closely as a dear friend, having worked together with him in Bauchi State, where he was the state director and I was the brigade commander. I would say that he is a core professional, a round peg in a round hole who sits on top of situations beyond the normal.
“Working closely with him, we were able to check and defeat Boko Haram and other threat situations in Bauchi State between years 2013 to 2015. The records are there.”
Gleaning from my knowledge of him, I would say it is an outstanding development. He will drive domestic intelligence excellently, and I can confidently say that remarkable outcomes will be achieved”.
General Nyam said while he does not know the new DG NIA personally, but that he has heard positive reviews about him.
” I do not know the new DG NIA, but few persons I have conferred with have expressed positive sentiments about the guy. I therefore applaud and salute the wisdom of the President, C- in – C for these appointments. We shall surely see some remarkable improvements!,” he said.
For the director, Media and Publicity at the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS), Dr Abdullahi Mohammed Jabi, the replacement of intelligence chiefs is a healthy development as since the president inherited the service chiefs, there have been allegations of compromise and intelligence failures, hence the need for him to rejig the sector.
He said, “Expectedly, the greatest threat against the country is insurgency insecurity and banditry, and there seems to be compromise in some quarters. There seems to be intelligence failures and complexities, and this, to a reasonable level, has been seen as accounting for the no proper progress under the leadership he inherited from the past administration.
“He is trying to rejig the security architecture with better hands to give him excellent information and development on what is happening in that sector. This is very important; by extension, he is bringing people that he believes in, which will give him more results so that Nigerians will begin to see a landmark achievement in that sector.
“It’s a very healthy one in the intelligence agencies. It is a very welcome development. It is expected that more heads of security/intelligence agencies may be replaced with more experienced, energetic people who know exactly what the issues that bedevil the sector are. ”
Also, a security expert, Iyke Odife, while reacting to the new appointments of the DG SS and DG NIA, said it will rejig the security architecture of the country.
He further said the appointment is coming at a time when the country is battling different forms of insecurity and needed new ideas to tackle them.
He urged the appointees to bring their wealth of knowledge to bear with the new challenges they are confronted with for the good of the country.
New DG, A Thoroughbred – DSS
The newly appointed director-general of the Department of State Services (DGSS), Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi has been described as a thoroughbred and versatile intelligence officer who will achieve a lot at the service.
Reacting to the appointment, Dr. Peter Afunanya, the director, public relations and strategic communication at the DSS, said “Mr Ajayi is diligent, resilient, urbane, pro-active and analytic. He comes to his new position with experience, capacity and immense goodwill.”
Ajayi was recruited into the Service in 1990 as a cadet officer and has received several trainings in diverse areas of management, security leadership, critical thinking, and human resources among others from within and outside the country.
He has also held many command positions including State Director of Security (SDS) at Rivers, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Enugu and Kogi states.
Meanwhile, the management of the DSS has wished the outgone DG DSS, Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi success in his future endeavours, just as they pledged their cooperation, support and loyalty to the new DG.
AbdulRazaq Applauds Appointment of New NIA, DSS Chiefs
Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has applauded appointment of directors general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Department of State Services (DSS).
The governor said the choice of seasoned diplomat, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, an indigene of Lafiagi in Kwara State, to lead the NIA opens another beautiful page in the history of the agency.
In a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, last night, AbdulRazaq commended President Bola Tinubu for the choice of the Kwara-born diplomat who was until his appointment the head of the Nigerian mission to Sudan.
Abdulrazaq also applauded the choice of Mr. Adeola Ajayi, a crack senior operative who has pulled through many sensitive operations, to head the DSS .
Urging support from all stakeholders for the new appointees, the governor prayed the Almighty God to grant the new directors general the wisdom to achieve greater feats and improved national security.
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