President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of a substantive Director General for National Intelligence Agency, NIA.

The new Director General is Mr Ahmed Abubakar, a retired career Foreign Service officer, who till his appointment served as Senior Special Assistant to the President (SSAP) on Foreign Affairs/International Relations.

Abubakar had extensive experience working with the United Nations in peace support operations, mediation process, preventive diplomacy and good offices, as well as the promotion of good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights.

He also briefly served as Senior Adviser at the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), with headquarters in Ndjamena, Chad, before his appointment as SSAP.

Abubakar holds a B.A degree in French Language and Literature, and an M.A degree in Francophone Maghrebian Literature, both from Bayero University, Kano.

He is also fluent in English and Arabic.

The appointment takes immediate effect.

In a related development, Mr Buhari has named four heads for major health institutions across Nigeria.

The president appointed Ajayi Adekunle as Chief Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, Ekiti State.

He appointed Henry Ugboma as Chief Medical Director, University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, while T.O. Adebowale was appointed as Medical Director, Neuro-Psychiatric, Aro, Abeakuta, Ogun State and Achigbu Kinsley as Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State.

The appointments were disclosed in a press statement issued by Ministry of Health on Wednesday.

The appointments of the new officials are for a term of four years from December 31, 2017.

Minister of Health, Mr Isaac Adewole, according to the statement, congratulated the new appointees and charged them to justify the confidence reposed in them by the president.

PT