Ahmed Abubakar, the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), has tendered his resignation, citing personal and family issues as the primary reasons for his decision.
Abubakar submitted his resignation letter to President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa on Saturday evening.
Following the submission of his resignation, Abubakar spoke with journalists, explaining that personal matters influenced his decision to step down, though he emphasized that there was nothing particularly serious behind it.
“There are quite a number of reasons one will do that. Some personal family issues, but nothing very serious, actually, and the friendship will continue,” he said.
Abubakar expressed his gratitude to President Tinubu for allowing him to serve for an extended period, noting that he had occupied the position since 2018.
He also thanked the President for the opportunity to continue serving for the first 15 months of the new administration.
“It’s a routine thing, from time to time, to brief Mr. President on security issues, and today is no exception. After the briefing, I tendered my resignation and Mr. President graciously approved and accepted the resignation,” Abubakar stated.
He further reflected on his tenure, highlighting the unique opportunity he had to serve two presidents consecutively.
“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; to have the opportunity to serve two Presidents at a stretch. So I thanked him very well, and I promised to remain professionally dedicated to our country,” he added.
When asked about President Tinubu’s reaction to his resignation, Abubakar chose not to disclose specific details, suggesting that such information would be more appropriately shared by the President or the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who accompanied him to the Villa.
“I think it’s not for me to say this. I’ll be breaching a protocol. But maybe the NSA and or Mr. President himself will say it,” he remarked.
Reflecting on his time as the head of the NIA, Abubakar expressed pride in his contributions, particularly in mentoring younger officers.
“I think this, for me, is everything, and I have had the opportunity to mentor officers and staff for all the period I have been DG. This is the seventh year, by the way, and the opportunity to mentor younger officers to come up, and now we have a lot of officers who can do this job excellently well,” he concluded.
Abubakar was initially appointed as the Director General of the NIA in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari. His tenure was extended in December 2021, allowing him to continue in the role until his recent resignation.
Before his appointment as DG, he served as the Senior Special Assistant to the former President on International Affairs/International Relations.
