Buhari makes top security appointment ahead of Tinubu’s Inauguration

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, May 11, appointed the retiring Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Garba Baba Umar as a Senior Security Adviser (SSA) on international police cooperation and counter-terrorism in the office of the minister of police affairs.

According to the presidency, Umar's appointment was to enable Nigeria to keep the important position and make way for him to complete his nationally beneficial tenure as an executive member of the International Police Organization (INTERPOL) Headquarters.

In approving his appointment, President Buhari 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.

President 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.


AIG Umar’s tenure at the INTERPOL ends in November 2024, and his new appointment as Senior Security Adviser takes effect from the 16th of May, 2023.

Meanwhile, this development is coming a few weeks into the inauguration of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu is set to succeed Buhari as he resumes office a Nigeria's president on Monday, May 29.