President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Professor Agboola Gambari as his new Chief Of Staff following the demise of Mallam Abba Kyari.
He is a Nigerian scholar and a diplomat having served a Minister for external affairs between 1984 and 1985.
According to sources close to the President, the 76-year old Gambari was picked after a rigourous selection process by the Presidency.
An official statement on his appointment is yet to be made by the Presidency as at the time of filing this report.
The Presidency is expected to officially make the announcement on Wednesday.
Gambari was appointed by the secretary-general of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the chairperson of the African Union Commission as Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur effective from 1 January 2010.
He was also Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (USG) for the Department of Political Affairs (DPA).
He was appointed on June 10, 2005, and assumed the post on July 1 of that year.
On March 4, 2013, Ibrahim Gambari was named by the Kwara State Governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad, as the pioneer chancellor of the Kwara State University, making him the ceremonial head of the university who presides over convocations to award degrees and diplomas and also supports the vision and mission of the university in all respects, including fundraising, social, economic and academic goals.
As a university that continues to gain credence as a community development university with world class standards, the selection of Gambari is expected to give the institution additional international boost and recognition.
He is also co-chair of the Albright-Gambari Commission.
He attended King’s College, Lagos. He subsequently attended the London School of Economics where he obtained his B. Sc. (Economics) degree (1968) with specialisation in International Relations.
He later obtained his M.A. (1970) and Ph. D. (1974) degrees from Columbia University, New York, USA in Political Science /International Relations.
