The Presidency on Sunday dispelled what it called “half-truths, misinformation, and outright falsehood” that had been trailing the recent appointment of Mr. Ahmed Abubakar as the new Director General of the National Intelligence Agency.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, made the President’s position known in a statement made available to journalists.
Adesina said there was no truth in the claims that Abubakar had retired from the services of the NIA as an Assistant Director, because he failed “promotion examinations twice; that he is married to a Moroccan, and so cannot hold such sensitive security position; and that he was born and bred in Chad, and holds dual nationality.”
The presidential spokesman said it was necessary to set the record straight because the claims had been spread in social and mainstream media.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari appointed the new DG because he had worked closely with him in the past two years, and sincerely believed that he would add value to the NIA.
He explained that, “The new NIA DG retired from the Foreign Service as a Deputy Director (not an Assistant Director) and three times during his career, had won merit awards for competence and meritorious service. Failing promotion examination can only exist in the fecund minds of fiction writers.
“His last position before the new appointment was as a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs/International Affairs where again he quietly proved himself.
“Abubakar’s parents hailed from Katsina State and had settled in Chad at a point in their lifetime.
“The new DG did his primary school in Ndjamena (then Fort-Lamy), but returned to Nigeria for his secondary and university education. He never at any time held Chadian nationality.
“Mr. Abubakar’s only wife hails from Katsina State, indeed, from the same community as the husband. The story of being married to a Moroccan can only be a tale by moonlight, concocted by people who love a fib.”
