The All Progressives Congress (APC) has Congratulated Prof. Ibrahim Gambari on his appointment as President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff.
A statement by Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu,
National Publicity Secretary, APC, reads: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) congratulates Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, CFR, Nigeria’s former permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) on his appointment as the new Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Without any iota of doubt, this appointment has, once again, demonstrated President Buhari’s avowed commitment to good governance by bringing on board competent Nigerians from all parts of the world to assist him in taking Nigeria to the Next Level.
“Gambari’s experience and suitability for the strategic office of Chief of Staff is not in doubt. A respected scholar, former minister, and a highly-regarded diplomat, who has worked at the highest level in the United Nations, including being the Under Secretary General of the Department of Political Affairs, Chairperson, African Union-UN Special Representative for Dafur and currently the Special Adviser on International Compact with Iraq and Other Issues to the UN Secretary General, founder of Savannah Center – a research, development, diplomacy and public policy think-tank and co-chair of the Albright-Gambari Commission – addressing issues such as state fragility, climate change, and the cyber‐economy, Gambari’s appointment is well-thought out and speaks volumes of the President’s penchant for excellence.
“Indeed, Professor Gambari ticks all the boxes as a round peg in a round hole. The APC is confident that Gambari, a Prince of Ilorin Emirate, will bring to bear his scholarly intellect, international network, professional and administrative experience in ensuring smooth running of the office of the president and support the government to provide good governance and successfully deliver the Next Level programmes for the benefit of Nigerians.
“While our great party assures Gambari of needed support and cooperation, we wish him success in his services to our great country and the people”.
In another statement, former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, also congratulated Gambari.
The statement reads:
“I congratulate Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari on his appointment as Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. Prof. Gambari is a decent man, a cerebral academic, disciplined diplomat and he is coming in with the necessary pedigree that will help him to do well on the job.
“I have no doubt that he will succeed on this onerous assignment. I urge all Nigerians to give him all the support that he needs to perform in office”.
Below is the bio-data of President Buhari’s new Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari, CFR, OCORT, a scholar-diplomat, is the Founder/Chairman of the Board of Directors of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, a non-governmental think-tank on research, policy studies, advocacy and training on the nexus between conflict prevention and resolution, democratisation and development in Africa.
He has had an illustrious career, spanning academia, government and international diplomacy, culminating with his appointment as the first United Nations Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa (1999-2005). He was the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid (1990-1994) and on Peace-Keeping Operations (1990—1999). He was Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (2005-2007) and also operated as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar and Special Representative in Angola.
Earlier, he was Minister of External Affairs (1984-1985) and subsequently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations (1990-1999). Professor Gambari also served as Joint AU/UN Special Representative in Darfur and Head of UNAMID (2010-2012). He is currently a Chairperson of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Professor Gambari attended the Provincial (now Government) Secondary School, Ilorin before proceeding to the Floreat Collegium Kings College, Lagos. He received his BSc (Econs) degree from the London School of Economics (1968) and his MA and PhD in Political Science/International Relations (1970, 1974) from Columbia University, USA. He has taught at universities in the Unites States, Nigeria and Singapore and has to his credit the authorship of a number of books.
He has received several academic and national honours, including the “Commander of Federal Republic of Nigeria” (CFR), and the “Order of the Champion of the Oliver R. Tambo” (OCORT) of South Africa. He is the Pioneer Chancellor of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Ilorin, Nigeria, as well as the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Bayero University, Kano (BUK).
He is a married with children and grandchildren.
