More facts have emerged on why the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, resigned from office.
SOCIETY REPORTERS gathered that Abubakar tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu on Saturday.
He disclosed this to State House reporters on Saturday shortly after meeting with the President. He said he met with the president and tendered his resignation which he accepted.
“After the ¹briefing, 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 him 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.”
When asked why he took the rare decision to resign, the former NIA boss said there was nothing serious to worry about and hinged his decision on some personal and family issues.
“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 committed with issues under security situations in 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.
The 71-year-old retired career foreign service officer hails from Katsina State.
He 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.