Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria’s former permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), will be announced as the new chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, TheCable understands.
He will be presented during the virtual meeting of the federal executive council (FEC).
Although his appointment has not been officially announced, presidency sources informed that he will replace Abba Kyari, who died from COVID-19 complications last month.
Gambari, from Ilorin, Kwara state, was minister of external affairs when Buhari was military head of state between 1983 and 1985.
He is currently the founder/chairman of Savannah Center External link in Abuja, a think-tank for research, training and public policy debate on the nexus between diplomacy (conflict resolution), democracy and development in Africa.
His last assignment at the United Nations was as the joint special representative of the secretary general and chairperson of the African Union Commission/gead of the UN and AU hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from January 2010 to July 2012.
During his tenure, UNAMID was the world’s largest international peacekeeping mission.