President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved the appointment of Engr. Babachir David Lawal as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He also named Alhaji Abba Kyari as his Chief of Staff.
The appointments were contained in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
Other appointments approved by the President, according to the statement, were Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd.) – Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service; Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi – Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service; Senator Ita Enang – Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate); Suleiman A. Kawu – SSA to National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).
Adesina said all the appointments took immediate effect.
Lawal, the new SGF hails from Hong Local Government Area, Adamawa State.
He graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1979 with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and worked with the Delta Steel Company, Aladja, and Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited and Data Sciences Limited before establishing his own ICT and Telecommunications consulting firm in 1990.
He is also a member of the Nigeria Computer Society, the Nigeria Society of Engineers and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.
Kyari, the new Chief of Staff to the President, holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick in Law and Sociology.
He has worked with the New Nigeria Development Company, New Africa Holdings, African International Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unilever, and Mobil in various capacities over the years.
The new Comptroller-General of Customs holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Criminology. He was military administrator of Kaduna State from 1996 to 1998.
The new Comptroller- General of Immigration, Abeshi, hails from Nasarawa State.
He joined the Nigerian Immigration Service in 1989 as an Assistant Comptroller.
His educational qualifications include a Masters Degree in Public Administration.
Mr. David Parradang was last week Friday suspended as the NIS boss for embarking on illegal recruitment.
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, had on Monday led him to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to beg the President.
The appointment of a new boss for the service dismissed the possibility of Parradang’s recall.
