After weeks of speculation, President Bola Tinubu on Monday appointed the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser.
He is the first appointed NSA without military background since the return to democracy to Nigeria in 1999.
According to the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federal (OSGF), Tinubu also ordered the immediate retirement of all Nigeria’s military chiefs and named replacements for them.
As the chairman of EFCC, a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud and money laundering, he addressed various financial corruption cases by prosecuting and convicting a number of high-profile corrupt individuals, ranging from Nigeria’s top politicians to several bank chief executives.
He was accused of double standard and insincerity in his war against corruption as he allegedly went after perceived enemies of his boss, Obasanjo, while shielding the friends of the former president. One of those who criticised him for this is Festus Keyamo.
In December 2007, Inspector-General of Police Mike Okiro ordered that Ribadu be temporarily removed from the position of EFCC chairman and ordered him to attend the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
The decision was criticised by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and House of Representatives members as politically motivated and/or likely to set back the fight against corruption.
Ribadu was removed from office by Umaru Yar’Adua on charges of bribery, double standards, insincerity, failure to disclose assets, and witch-hunting alleged rivals of his principal.
READ ALSO:
FACT CHECK: Did Buhari Fulfil Electoral Promise To Rid Nigeria Of Corruption? No!
Fraud Alert: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Jobs in Nigeria
He ran for President of Nigeria under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011, and had sought to contest for the governorship of Adamawa on two occasions but missed out during party primaries.
BattaFiles gathered that Ribadu would have been appointed long before now if not for the military officers telling Tinubu point blank that they cannot work with their “junior” as the NSA and hence kicked against the idea of appointing him into the office.
“Ribadu was already nominated to be NSA but top military personnel kicked. That was why Tinubu first made him special adviser before elevating him,” a source said.
Ribadu, 62, hails from Yola, Adamawa State.
It is necessary to point out that the National Security Agencies Act (CAP 278) established three principal agencies: the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS), now known as the Department of State Services (DSS).
Section 4 of the National Security Agencies Act, 1986, which disbanded the erstwhile Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO) and created these three intelligence agencies, specifically empowering the President, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to appoint a Coordinator on National Security.
Section 4(2) of the Act states: “The Coordinator on National Security shall be a Principal Staff Officer in the Office of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.” Section 1 of the National Security Agencies Decree, 1986 (INSTRUMENT NO. NSA 1) specifically transfers the functions of the Coordinator on National Security to the National Security Adviser.
Section 4(3) of the Act defines the roles of the Coordinator on National Security to include advising the President on matters concerning the intelligence activities of the (created) agencies, making recommendations in relation to the activities of the agencies to the President as contingencies may warrant, and doing other things in connection with the foregoing provisions of the section, as the C-in-C may determine.
