By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
There is no certainty yet concerning the status of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, who was said to have been appointed the new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Several Nigerian media outlets were awash with news of the appointment on Tuesday but there is yet no official confirmation from the presidency.
When TheNiche reached out to Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari, he neither confirmed nor denied the story.
“You know how we release stories from the presidency. There is an official channel. If there is such a news, it will come from the official channel,” was Adesina’s response.
As at 5 p.m., there was yet no official confirmation.
If Gambari, a professor of political science and Nigeria’s former permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), gets Buhari’s nod, he will replace Mallam Abba Kyari, who died last month of COVID-19.
Gambari, who was Buhari’s Foreign Minister between 1984 and 1985 and confidant as military Head of State, was said to have met with the President at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja.
A scholar and seasoned diplomat, as foreign minister, Gambari played a key role in quelling the diplomatic uproar generated by the failed attempt to kidnap Mallam Umaru Dikko from UK by the Buhari military government.
Gambari was appointed by former United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and the chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur in 2010.
He also served as Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the UN Secretary General. Prior to that, he served as Under-Secretary Generay of the United Nations for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA).
An Ilorin prince, Professor Ibrahim Gambari was born on November 24, 1944.