The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Abubakar, has resigned.
Mr Abubakar who spent seven years in office, serving two administrations of President Bola Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari, announced his resignation on Saturday after meeting with the president in Abuja.
“After the briefing, I tendered my resignation and Mr President graciously approved and accepted the resignation,” Channels Television quoted him as telling State House reporters.
The intelligence chief, appointed in 2018, said he resigned due to “personal, family issues.”
“I discussed with Mr President, he understood very well and I promised to remain committed with issues under security situations in the country,” he said.
“There are quite a number of reasons one would do that. Some personal, family issues. But nothing very serious actually,” he said.
When asked about the president’s reaction to his decision, the former DG declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate to disclose the details of his conversation with the president.
He also expressed gratitude to the President for allowing him to serve for the first 15 months of the new administration, having occupied the office since 2018.
“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,” Abubakar said.
Mr Abubakar said he had during his seven years in office mentored young officers who he believes can do the job “excellently well.”
To Abubakar, he resigned after visiting the President for a routine briefing at the Villa.
However, he said the president or the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) could issue a statement about it.
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Ahmed Abubakar was first appointed DG of the NIA 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.
