The storm seems to be far from over for Abubakar Rufai Ahmed, Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, as further revelations from Darfur, Sudan where he served while with the foreign service, paint a sordid and scandalous past, that make him unsuitable for the office of Nigeria’s foremost Intelligence agency.
This was disclosed in a press release by National Patriots’ Forum signed by Comrade Adewale
Benjamin, convener and Mustapha S. Tarajo, co-convener
The release said, besides the issue of doubtful citizenship and attendant multiple loyalty, the new spymaster Abubakar Rufai Ahmed had been found guilty of misconduct which could have earned him a sack from the UN job, but for the intervention of his godfathers; Ambassadors
Babagana Kingibe and Zakari Ibrahim.
A letter from his Sudan colleague and friend which was leaked to this medium, chronicled several scandalous and gross misconducts by Rufai Abubakar, as well as his questionable associations that make himunsuitable for the job of the head of Nigeria’s foremost intelligence agency.,
The letter listed amongst other things Ahmed Rufai’s double appointment with the NIA and the United Nations at the same time, his lies about his actual rank, and his relationship with a Sierra Leonean lady, Blanch Munah Hyde, of the Political Affairs Office,who had a baby
girl for him, delivered in 2012.
A case of sexual exploitation was also established against him, but he was let off the hook on the intervention of Babagana Kingibe and Zakari Ibrahim after he accepted responsibility
for the child, with a promise to marry the lady.
The NIA boss also had an inappropriate relationship with his boss, one Achiatou Muhammadu from Niger, who was the Deputy Joint Special representative DJSR, to UNAMID. The relationship was an open secret according to the letter, and the lady facilitated Rufai Abubakar’s prolonged stay outside, as a consultant to the UN, after he left the job. What has not been ascertained is whether or not they eventually married.
The content of letter by Ahmed’s close associate is reproducedbelow, omitting the author’s name and contact as requested by him, for public scrutiny and appraisal:
“Dear friends,
THE FACTS ABOUT ABUBAKAR RUFAI AHMED I KNOW
1. I am convinced beyond doubt that we are all in this for the love
of our country. I write this letter as a concerned Nigerian who has
worked with and know Abubakar Rufai Ahmed very well. I hope that the
authorities can be properly guided in choosing a more suitable head of
the NIA from the avalanche of so many more suitable and better qualified
hands besides Abubakar Rufai Ahmed, who in my estimation is a gross
misfit.
2. I crave your indulgence to recap my story on all I know about
Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as my colleague and friend, with whom I have
continued to interact after he had left the services of UNAMID in 2015.
Our paths first crossed in 2005 while I was serving with the Nigerian
Embassy in Sudan. During that period, I interacted closely with Nigerian
Military Officers and their civilian counterparts who were on Peace
Keeping Mission along with him in Darfur. The Officers had often
complained about his attitude while at AMIS mission with Ambassador
Babagana Kingibe as the Head of Mission and Ambassador Hassan Gibril of
the Gambia as the Deputy Head of Mission.
The Field Commander (FC) at that time, Major General Luke Aprezi was also a Nigerian. Ambassador Babagana Kingibe actually arrived the mission with Ahmed Rufai Abubakar
who was manning the Political Desk. While Ambassador Babagana Kingibe
maintained a home at Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and a working Guest House in
Khartoum (Sudan), the Deputy Head of Mission, Ambassador Hassan Gibril
was domiciled with the peacekeepers in Darfur; about one hour thirty
minutes’ flight from Khartoum. All the while, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar was
located with Ambassador Babagana Kingibe.
3. In the last quarter of 2005, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe ceased to
be AMIS Head of Mission. Madam Monique Mukaruliza of Rwanda assumed the
office of Head of Mission in acting capacity and remained in office
until 31 December 2007, when the UN took over from AMIS. The mission
nomenclature also changed from AMIS to UNAMID (United Nations African
Union Hybrid Operations in Darfur). A Congolese, Ambassador Rudulph
Adada took over from Madam Monique Mukaruliza as the Joint Special
Representative (JSR) of the UN Secretary General. Barely 7 months after,
a Nigerian Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari was appointed by the UN Secretary
General to take over as JSR. Thankfully, General ML Agwai (rtd), another
Nigerian was appointed as the FC.
4. Transmutation from AMIS to UNAMID came with its challenges. Apart
from the troops and police officers from different countries, the AMIS
civilian staff were not automatically absorbed into the UN system. The
UN maintains its own policies and processes to recruit their staff. Due
to the dearth of civilian staff, coupled with the refusal of UN staff in
other mission to relocate to Darfur due to fear, a window of opportunity
was created for fresh recruitment. As at this period, Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar who had hitherto been holed up in either Addis or Khartoum
relocated to Darfur. It was also in the same period that Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar also applied and secured a job as Political Affairs Officer on
the rank of P4. Two other Nigerian military officers (still serving),
Lieutenants Colonels OZ Azinta (now Major General and GOC) and Augustine
Agundu (now Major General) at the DHQ who were sharing the same office
with Ahmed Rufai Abubakar also applied and secured jobs as Political
Affairs Officers on the rank of P4. After they had completed orientation
training at the UN training school in Brindisi, Northern Italy, Azinta
and Agundu declined the UN job offer, preferring to pursue their careers
in the military. They both departed Darfur at the end of their tour of
duty.
5. It is pertinent to emphasis at this juncture that Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar secured a permanent job with the UN as a P5, the equivalence of
an Assistant Director, and appropriated all the benefits that goes with
a permanent staff. The impression we all had was that he was formally of
the ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was there until 2013 when he
attained the mandatory retiring age of 62. He was a P5 officer all along
and at no time did he attain the rank of a D2 officer, rather, he was
granted that at the tail end of his stay in UNAMID, as a parting gift. A
D2 is the equivalence of a Deputy Director. Interestingly, Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar had a very close relationship with the lady who was the Deputy
Joint Special Representative (DJSR), Achiatou Muhammadu from the Niger
Republic. It was an open secret in UNAMID that there was more to their
relationship than meet the eyes. She, it was believed, that facilitated
his promotion to D2 at his point of departure, so that he will be
entitled to pensions from the UN. Coincidentally, she was appointed the
JSR of the UN mission in Cote’d’Voire about the same time Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar was leaving UNAMID. She once again facilitated another UN job
for Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as a Consultant with the UN in Senegal.
Consultancy services in the UN system is limited by time. He remained a
consultant in Senegal for 2 years before the job was terminated in
August 2015. Consultants in the UN system, like anywhere else are not
entitled to certain benefits enjoyed by permanent staff; including
pension. However, he was already pensionable with the UN having worked
with UNAMID for more than 5 years. UN staff are pensionable after 5
years of unbroken service.
6. The question remains that if Ahmed Abubakar Rufai was a permanent
staff with NIA, he had no business accepting a permanent job with the UN
without resigning from NIA. It is hard to believe that he only turned in
his resignation letter to the NIA in 2013; the same year he left UNAMID.
His pen picture suggests one who is extremely arrogant and aloof. He
never attended any Nigerian community function while in Darfur,
including Independence Day Celebrations. Above all else, Ahmed Rufai
Abubakar was entangled in a very serious breach of the UN core values in
Darfur which could have earned him a sack if not for the cover up he got
from the senior management. A case of sexual exploitation was
established against Ahmed Rufai Abubakar in 2012 when he got one of his
staff in the political Affairs Department, Blanche Munah Hyde from
Sierra Leone pregnant. She was eventually delivered of a baby girl after
Rufai accepted responsibility.
7. Finally, I confess that Ahmed Rufai Abubakar was my colleague and
friend, so there is really no motive to lie against him. In fact, I
remained in mail contact with him long after he left UNAMID. The records
are there to support all that I have stated, in the subsequent
paragraphs. Accept these as facts and let the authorities know, but
protect my identity for obvious reasons.
The storm seems to be far from over for Abubakar Rufai Ahmed, Director
General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, as further revelations
from Darfur, Sudan where he served while with the foreign service, paint
a sordid and scandalous past, that make him unsuitable for the office
of Nigeria’s foremost Intelligence agency.This was disclosed in a
press release by National Patriots’ Forum signed by Comrade Adewale
Benjamin, convener and Mustapha S. Tarajo, co-convener
The release said, besides the issue of doubtful citizenship and
attendant multiple loyalty, the new spymaster Abubakar Rufai Ahmed had
been found guilty of misconduct which could have earned him a sack from
the UN job, but for the intervention of his godfathers; Ambassadors
Babagana Kingibe and Zakari Ibrahim.This was disclosed, the Forum said
by a diplomat and close associate who served together with Ahmed at the
same time in Sudan, but who craved for anonymity.