18 Days Left In Office, Buhari Appoints AIG As Security Adviser

With barely 18 days left to the expiration of his second term and concluding tenure in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a retiring Assistant Inspector General of Police, Garba Baba Umar, as a senior adviser on security.

But Umar will function in that capacity until November 2024.

Buhari appointed him to the office of the Minister of Police Affairs as adviser on international police cooperation and counter-terrorism.

The president explained that Umar’s appointment will enable the country to keep the “important position” as an executive member of the International Police Organization (INTERPOL).

Announcing the appointment, Garba Shehu, Buhari’s senior media assistant said the president “took note of a precedent in which a former Executive Member, AIG Kamal Subair (Rtd) was retained in service by the Federal Government of Nigeria after retirement in 2018.”

The presidential aide added that Buhari “also took note of the fact that during his tenure as a member of the Executive Committee, AIG Umar assisted Nigeria in many ways, with the hope that in the remaining one year, he will even do more in securing equipment for crimes, border management and counter-terrorism for the country and in helping to get more Nigerians into important positions in the INTERPOL.”

Umar was elected as the Africa Vice President of INTERPOL at the 89th general assembly of the organization in charge of facilitating worldwide police cooperation and crime control.

He was head of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) prior to that appointment.