President Bola Tinubu has appointed Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi as the new Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), replacing Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
The announcement was made on Monday by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity.
Ajayi, who rose through the ranks to his current position as Assistant Director-General, has served in various capacities, including State Director in Bauchi, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Kogi.
His appointment comes as part of a reshuffling of top security positions, following the resignation of previous DSS and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) chiefs.
In addition to Ajayi’s appointment, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed has been named the new Director-General of the NIA, succeeding Ahmed Abubakar, who resigned over the weekend.
Ambassador Mohammed, a 1990 graduate of Bayero University, Kano, has had a distinguished career in the foreign service since joining the NIA in 1995.
His experience includes roles in North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, and at the State House in Abuja, culminating in his leadership of the Nigerian mission to Libya.
In his statement, Ngelale emphasized the President’s expectations for the newly appointed security chiefs to work diligently in repositioning the two intelligence agencies.
“President Tinubu expects that the new security chiefs will work assiduously to reposition the two intelligence agencies for better results,” Ngelale said.
He further charged them to leverage their experience in addressing the nation’s security challenges through enhanced collaboration with sister agencies and in alignment with the Office of the National Security Adviser.
President Tinubu also expressed his gratitude to the outgoing Directors-General for their service to the nation and wished them success in their future endeavours