ABUJA – Ahmed Abubakar, Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed, has resigned from his appointment.
Abubakar confirmed that he had tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu.
Abubakar was appointed in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was reappointed in December 2021.
Accosted at the State House, Abubakar said he was there on a routine briefing, during which he tendered his resignation letter.
Responding to a question on his mission in the State House, he explained: “It’s a routine thing, from time to time to brief Mr. Presidnet on situations and today is no exception.
“After the briefing today, I actually tended my resignation, and Mr. President graciously approved and accepted the resignation.
“I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to serve Nigeria under his transformational leadership for a period, for an extended period of 15 months, which is very rare, by the way, to serve, to have the opportunity to serve two Presidents at a stretch or at a go.
“So, I thanked him very well, and I promised to remain professional as we are professionally dedicated to our country and to noble causes.”
He said he discussed with Mr. President and he understood very well, “and I promised to remain seized with issues and the security situations of the country.”
Asked what the president’s reaction was, he said: “I think, I think it’s not for me to say this, actually, probably I’ll be breaching protocol, but maybe the NSA and or Mr. President himself will say it. But what I can tell you is that I’m very, very grateful for the opportunity that the President gave me, actually to serve the country and his leadership.
“The encouragement I got, the confidence he had in me and in my service, the opportunity to listen to me, to read briefing notes and advice, and so on. I think this is it for me. It is everything, and I have had the opportunity to mentor officers and staff members for all the period I have been DG.
“This is the seventh year, by the way to mentor officers and staff members for all the period that I’ve been DG. This is the seventh year, by the way, and the opportunity to mentor younger officers to come up, and now we have a lot of many officers who can do this job and do it excellently.”
