PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed and Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi as the new Directors General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Department of State Service (DSS), respectively.
Mohammed has been a career diplomat in Nigeria’s Foreign Service since joining the NIA in 1995, serving in various roles, leading to to his promotion to the rank of Director and subsequent appointment as Head of the Nigerian mission to Libya.
The 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan and the State House, Abuja, until his appointment.
Ajayi rose through the ranks to attain his current post of Assistant Director General of the Service, serving at various times as State Director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers and Kogi states.
The new appointments, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, followed the resignation of the former director general of NIA, Ahmed Abubakar Rufa’i on Saturday, August 24, and his DSS counterpart, Yusuf Bichi, ostensibly on Monday, August 26.
According to Ngelale: “President Tinubu expects that the new security chiefs will work assiduously to reposition the two intelligence agencies for better results and charges them to bring their experience to bear in tackling the security challenges bedeviling the country through enhanced collaboration with sister agencies and in surgical alignment with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
“The President thanks the outgoing directors general of the two pivotal intelligence agencies for their services to the nation, while wishing them success in their future endeavours.
The two former directors general has been in office since their appointment by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
They may have been given a soft-landing by resigning rather than being sacked.
