Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, will not be the next National Security Adviser (NSA) as speculated by some media reports.
News.ng gathered that Ribadu would instead be appointed as the next police affairs minister by the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Ribadu, 62, retired from the Nigeria Police Force as an Assistant Inspector General of Police and has been in active politics since then.
He also contested for president in 2011 under the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.
In 2015, Ribadu contested for the governorship position in his home state of Adamawa under the Peoples Democratic Party and failed before returning to the All Progressives Congress (APC) later.
Daniel Bwala, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, had tweeted that Ribadu would be picked as the next NSA in the Tinubu-led administration.
An APC chieftain from Adamawa state further reiterated the information, Adamu Garba, who tweeted on April 28, 2023, wrote:
“Nigeria’s next National Security Adviser, insha Allahu, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.”
However, a source in the APC told News.ng that Ribadu would not be appointed the NSA by Tinubu.
The source said:
‘’He does not have the requiste experience to hold such a sensitive position and the president-elect is very much aware of this.
‘’I can tell you categorically that he has been pencilled down for the role of the police affairs minister. He will not have a problem with that portfolio as a former officer.
‘’The next NSA is Maj-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd). He is a former Chief of Army Staff and former minister of interior. He commands respect in the security sector, and Tinubu knows this. Remember, he is also a Ph.D. holder.
“Those speculating about Ribadu need to be in tune with how the security sector works. You don’t appoint a former police officer to oversee the country’s security architecture, mainly because he is not an intelligence officer.”
Ribadu was very visible in the campaign train of Tinubu before the 2023 presidential elections.
Tinubu is expected to name his cabinet weeks after he is sworn in as president on Monday, May 29, 2023.