The Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Tosin Ajayi, has dismissed Adegboyega Fasasi from his role as Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to Daily Nigerian, sources indicate that Mr. Fasasi’s removal was finalized over the weekend.
He has been succeeded by Rasheed Atanda Lawal, a deputy director at the SSS, who is currently participating in a fellowship program at the National Institute for Security Studies, as reported by the newspaper.
Sources further revealed that President Tinubu approved Mr. Fasasi’s removal at the recommendation of the DSS Director-General (DG), who cited the need to enroll him in a “strategic course”—a common justification used for replacing senior security officials close to the president.
Additionally, it was disclosed that Mr. Lawal was set to be promoted to the rank of Director in July 2023, but the previous management delayed his advancement, allegedly because he was not favored by the former DG.
“It has now become the tradition of the service for a new DG to redeploy a new CSO that he is comfortable to work with.
“The position of the CSO is highly strategic. The DG needs someone he actually trusts and comfortable with at that key position,” said the source.
In March 2019, then President Muhammadu Buhari approved the redeployment of his Chief Security Officer, Bashir Abubakar, and appointed Idris Ahmed as his replacement.
Then Director General of the SSS, Yusuf Bichi, reportedly persuaded the president that Mr. Bashir needed to attend a “strategic course” at a university in Buenos Aires, Argentina, leading to his replacement.
