The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar, yesterday announced his resignation, citing personal and family issues.
Abubakar announced his decision after submitting his resignation letter to President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, last night.
He said yesterday’s visit was to, among other things, brief the President on issues of national security.
The ex-NIA chief thanked the president for extending his tenure to the first 15 months of the new administration, having occupied the office since 2018.
When asked why he resigned, Abubakar said: “There are quite a number of reasons one will do that. Some personal family issues, but nothing very serious, actually, and the friendship will continue.
“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 continued: “It’s a routine thing, from time to time, to brief Mr. President on security issues, and today is no exception.
“After the briefing, I tendered 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 an extended period of 15 months, which is very rare; to have the opportunity to serve two Presidents at a stretch. So, I thanked him very well, and I promised to remain professionally dedicated to our country.”
When asked about the President’s reaction to his resignation, Abubakar declined to answer in clear terms, saying such details are better revealed by the President himself or the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, in whose company he arrived at the Villa.
“I think it’s not for me to say this. I’ll be breaching a protocol. But maybe the NSA and or Mr. President himself will say it.
“But what I can tell you is that I’m very grateful for the opportunity that the President gave me 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, for me, is everything and I have had the opportunity to mentor officers and staff for all the period I have 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 officers who can do this job excellently well,” he added.
Abubakar was first appointed DG of the NIA in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who extended his stay in office in December 2021.
Before his appointment, he was Senior Special Assistant to the former President on International Affairs/International Relations.
