Why I tendered my resignation, NIA DG, Rufai Abubakar

The Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar has revealed why he tendered his resignation to President Bola Tinubu after about seven years in the position.

The NIA DG was appointed by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2018.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, after tendering his resignation letter, Abubakar said that the President has accepted his resignation, describing his action as a routine thing.

Asked why he resigned, Abubakar told journalists: “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.

“I discussed with Mr. President, he understood very well, and I promised to remain steadfast with issues and the security situations of the country.

“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; to have the opportunity to serve two President at a stretch.

“So I thanked him very well, and I promised to remain professionally dedicated to our country.”

Asked about President Tinubu’s reaction to his resignation, Abubakar said: “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.

“But what I can tell you is that I’m very grateful for the opportunity that the President gave me to serve the country and his leadership; the encouragement I got, the confidence he had in me and in my service, the opportunity to listen to me, to read briefing notes and advice and so on.

“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.“

Vanguard