Tinubu approves new DGs for NIA, DSS

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new Directors-General for the National Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Services (DSS).

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made the disclosure in a statement released on Wednesday.

It would be recalled that the Director General of the NIA, Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar had resigned his office.

Until the announcement on Monday, Yusuf Bichi was the Director General of the DSS.

According to Ngelale, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed is the new Director-General of the NIA, while Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi is the new Director-General of the DSS.

Ambassador Mohammed has had an illustrious career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.

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 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano had served in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House, Abuja.

The new DSS Director-General rose through the ranks to attain his current post of Assistant Director-General of the Service.

Ajayi had, at various times, served as State Director of the DSS in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi States.

The new appointments followed the resignation of the previous NIA and DSS chiefs.

Ngelale said: “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 bedeviling the country through enhanced collaboration with sister agencies and in surgical alignment with the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“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.”