By Yahaya Umar, Abuja
Following the resignation of the Director- General, DG, Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the coast is now clear for the return of suspended NIA DG, Ambassador Ayodele Oke to his seat.
AljazirahNigeria reports that Ayodele was suspended in April 2017 by then President Muhammadu Buhari, pending the outcome of investigation over large sums of money in foreign currencies allegedly found at a private residence.
The funds was said to be for security operations.
However, in 2023 a court cleared Oke from any wrongdoing and ordered that he be reinstated back to his seat as DG NIA being a statutory tenure appointment.
Before his departure on May 29 Buhari also cleared Oke, of the allegations of corruption levelled against him.
Buhari’s clean bill of health to Oke according to sources came after the NIA and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, settled a misunderstanding between them and resolved to work in the interest of national security.
It would be recalled that the EFCC busted an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, and seized $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 kept in bags.
Following the president’s directive, the NIA wrote to the EFCC leadership soliciting the closure of the case because of its negative impact on the intelligence agency.
In this vein, on June 9, 2023 the suit was struck out following an application to withdraw the charges against Oke and his wife from the prosecution.
Meanwhile, former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, has given an insight into why he resigned from his position.
Briefing journalists at the State House, Abuja after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the weekend, cited personal and family issues as his reasons for resigning from office.
“There are quite number of reasons one will do that. Some personal family issues, but nothing very serious, actually, and the friendship will continue”, he said after tendering his resignation letter to the President.
“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 stated.
The former NIA DG also expressed gratitude to Tinubu for allowing him to serve for the first 15 months of the new administration, having occupied the office since 2018.
“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”, he said.
Abubakar, a 71-year-old retired career foreign service officer from Katsina State, was appointed DG of the NIA in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who extended his stay in office in December 2021.
He attended Bayero University, Kano, where he obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in French. He also speaks English and Arabic.
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.
