He submitted his resignation letter to President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
After a brief meeting, Abubakar shared that personal and family issues were part of his reasons for stepping down.
Despite his resignation, he expressed gratitude to the President for the opportunity to serve during the first 15 months of the new administration, having held the position since 2018.
When asked why he resigned, Abubakar said, “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.”
Abubakar said he resigned after visiting the President for a routine briefing at the Villa.
“It’s a routine thing, from time to time, to brief Mr. President on situations, on issues, and today is no exception.”
“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,” he said.
Abubakar was first appointed DG of the NIA in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who extended his stay in office in December 2021
Before his appointment in 2018, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, a retired career Foreign Service officer, served as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and International Relations.
Abubakar has extensive experience working with the United Nations in peace support operations, mediation processes, preventive diplomacy, and promoting good governance, respect for the rule of law, and human rights.
Meanwhile, Activist and whistleblower, Mahdi Shehu, has provided an insider account regarding the resignation of Ahmed Rufai, the Director-General (DG) of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
According to Mahdi, Ahmed Rufai, who held the position since April 2017, was a key figure among former President Buhari’s appointees, known for his influence.
Mahdi claimed that Rufai’s resignation traces back to 2017, when a sting operation was orchestrated by certain northern power brokers, involving the then EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.
According to him, the operation targeted the NIA’s Lagos office, resulting in the controversial removal of large sums of money—$43 million and £34 million.
Mahdi alleged that part of the operation’s intent was to create a vacancy at the NIA, ultimately leading to Ahmed Rufai’s appointment as DG, despite an ongoing court case by Ambassador Eke Ayodele, the former DG of NIA.
Mahdi noted that Ayodele was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing in 2023 and was ordered by the court to be reinstated.
He suggested that political considerations, particularly the upcoming 2023 presidential elections, influenced the decision to retain Ahmed Rufai in his position temporarily. He also hinted at promises made by President Tinubu to reinstate Ayodele after the elections.
He wrote on X: ”In April 2017, in a deliberately designed sting operation to create a vacuum by force and subterfuge at the NIA, initiated by Sabiu tunde and two other northern cabals, Magu, the then Efcc Chairman using an insider informant from NIA operations unit, was drafted to invade the lagos operational office of the NIA, which he forcefully broke into and removed $43m and £34m.
”$10m was allegedly reported to have been “stolen” out of the “recovery” when it was taken for custody at the CBN by an NIA accounts staff who was silently transferred out. Don’t ask me if the $10m was returned. He wrote.