Fresh facts have emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari has come under tremendous pressures to reverse the appointment of his kinsman, Mr Abubakar Rufai Ahmed, as the new Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.
Newsdiaryonline reports also that critics of the president have taken to the social media to denounce the appointment as well.
More significantly those said to be mounting direct pressure on the President are said to be arguing that he should reverse himself to correct the perception that he is practisings nepotism in his government.
Even more, those who canvass a second thought by the president point to the fact that reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which supervises the National Intelligence Agency, NIA indicate that the appointment of the new DG Ahmed, was neither on merit nor was it appropriate. The new DG insiders claim allegedly left the Public Service under controversial circumstances, having failed to pass promotion exams three times.
There are also emerging facts which point to a possible conspiracy by people very close to President Muhammadu Buhari, but who have often misled him. They are popularly referred to as the cabal. Members of the cabal pushed for the new DG’s appointment to facilitate their access to the remaining balance of the $44 million leftover of the Osborne House cash haul, which President Muhammadu Buhari does not seem to know about.
It was learnt that the $43.3 Billion recovered from Osborne Towers was just a fraction of a larger haul, which people surrounding the President got wind of and have been trying to lay their hands on, since Ambassador Ayo Oke was suspended and subsequently sacked.
A top officer of the agency disclosed that, the man who served as Acting DG, Ambassador Mohammed Dauda may have refused to cooperate with the cabal in sharing the money, and that was why his appointment was not confirmed despite being the most senior officer in the service with a track record of service, not yet matched in the NIA.
Investigations revealed that, the Acting DG, who will be retiring from service by September 2018 refused to throw his enviable career on the line by refusing to tamper with the remaining funds.His action, it was learnt, may have angered the cabal, hence they plotted to foist the new DG, despite his apparent incapacity to be able to spin him.
While tempers continue to rise across the country, especially in the South West where the immediate past substantive Director General, Mr Oke comes from, and whose people expected his replacement to come from the same geopolitical zone, senior officers of the agency are said not to be happy with the new appointee because of his apparent lack of experience and professional competence.
Investigations also revealed that, the new DG who served as the secretary of the panel that investigated and recommended the sack of Mr Ayo Oke does not qualify to be appointed on moral grounds, as he cannot be a judge in a matter he has interest. Furthermore, attention is being drawn to the fact that his own mother is a foreigner, and his wife is also a Moroccan, a development which falls foul of the code of ethics for even an ordinary officer in any of the security and intelligence agencies, and calls to question his allegiance and loyalty.
Available records indicate that the new DG also spent more than ten years at the Organization of Islamic Conference, OIC, on secondment, contrary to rules guiding secondment of an officer to any organization to which Nigeria is a member. The rule provides that an officer can be seconded for only two years, which is renewable, making a maximum of four years.
It is also believed that Ahmed, having spent more than ten years at the Organization of Islamic Conference, OIC, and being able to speak Arabic might have been the only qualification needed to appoint him. Others feel that his appointment may not be unconnected with plans by the Buhari administration to use him as a vital link with OIC.
President Buhari, insider say, may have been deceived into appointing the new DG, or may have deliberately ignored the recommendations of the committee set to fashion out a strategy for the repositioning of the NIA, which would have seen the Acting DG being confirmed having passed the litmus test of integrity and competence.
There is anxiety already at the agency over the appointment. It was learnt that the new DG, Ahmed seemed desperate to take over at the weekend. He was stopped by the absence of certain essential officers who needed to brief him and some documents which needed clarifications, which can only be done on working days.
