PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, on Monday August 26, appointed Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi as the new Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS).
The President also appointed Mohammed Mohammed as the new Director General (DG) of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
Both Ajayi and Mohammed’s appointments followed the resignation of the former NIA and the SSS Directors-General, Ahmed Abubakar and Yusuf Bichi, respectively.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement, noting that Ajayi would replace Bichi who was appointed by former president Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.
Tinubu appreciated the two outgoing DGs of the intelligence agencies for their services to the nation.
According to the presidency, the new SSS DG rose through the ranks to attain the post of Assistant Director-General of the Service before his latest appointment.
It noted Ajayi had, at various times, served as state director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi.
Meanwhile, the new NIA boss Mohammed was said to have had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.
According to the presidency, Mohammed served in various capacities, culminating in his promotion to the rank of director and his subsequent appointment as the head of the Nigerian mission to Libya.
Mohammed, who graduated from Bayero University, Kano in 1990, reportedly served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House, Abuja.
“President Tinubu challenged the new security chiefs to work assiduously to reposition the two agencies for better results and charged them to bring their experience to bear in tackling the security challenges bedevilling the country through enhanced collaboration with sister agencies and in surgical alignment with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” the statement added.
Recall that The ICIR reported that Abubakar submitted his resignation letter to Tinubu, on Saturday, August 24
After emerging from the meeting at Aso Presidential Villa where he tendered his resignation letter, Abubakar thanked Tinubu for allowing him to serve under two presidents.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
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