- Kwara Gov Hails Appointments, Says Appointees Great Professionals
There are new sheriffs in the saddle at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Matrix gathers that President Bola Tinubu on Monday , August 26, 2024 approved the appointment of Adeola Ajayi as Director-General of the DSS and Mohammed Mohammed as the new NIA DG.
Ajayi replaces Yusuf Bichi while Mohammed replaces Ahmed Rufai.
The appointments were announced in a statement on Monday by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson.
“Ambassador Mohammed has had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.
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He had served in various roles, culminating in his promotion to the rank of Director and his subsequent appointment as the head of the Nigerian mission to Libya,” the statement reads.
“The 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, had served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House, Abuja.
“The new DSS Director-General, Mr. Adeola Ajayi, rose through the ranks to attain his current post of Assistant Director-General of the Service. He had, at various times, served as State Director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi.”
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 bedevilling 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,” Ngelale said.
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Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has described the newly appointed Directors-General of the NIA and DSS as great professionals and wished them successful tenures.
He said the choice of seasoned diplomat Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, an indigene of Lafiagi, to lead the NIA opens another beautiful page in the history of the agency, and commended President Bola Tinubu for the choice of the Kwara-born diplomat who was until his appointment the head of the Nigerian Mission to Sudan.
In a statement by his spokesman, Rafiu Ajakaye, in Ilorin on Monday, Governor Abdulrazaq also applauded the choice of Mr Adeola Ajayi, a crack senior operative who has pulled through many sensitive operations, to head the DSS at this time.
He urged for support from all stakeholders for the new appointees, and prayed to the Almighty God to grant the new Directors-General the wisdom to achieve greater feats and improved national security.
