The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, has tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu.
Abubakar disclosed this to State House reporters on Saturday shortly after meeting with the President, saying he discussed with Tinubu who understood with him.
On his visit to the Presidential Villa, Abubakar said he came to visit Tinubu to “brief Mr President on issues and today is no exception.”
“After the briefing, I tendered my resignation and Mr President graciously approved and accepted the resignation.”
He said he also used the opportunity to thank Tinubu “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.”
Despite his resignation, Abubakar promised to remain professionally dedicated to Nigeria.
Nothing Serious
When asked why he took the rare decision to resign, the former NIA boss said there was nothing serious to worry about.
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.
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.