President Muhammadu Buhari has fired Senator Basheer Mohammed, Director-General of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Mohammed was sacked less than four months after he took control of the agency.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the president has approved the appointment of Fatima Waziri-Azi as the replacement of Mohammed.
Shehu said the appointment was sequel to a recommendation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.
He said the minister expressed the “urgent need for the Ministry to intensify on the existing capacity in the NAPTIP in order to achieve its Key Result Areas as identified.”
He quoted Hajiya Sadiya as saying that the recommendation of Fatima Waziri-Azi was based on her “pedigree, vast experience and proven track record to drive the agency forward and consolidate on what has been achieved so far.”
The statement said the appointee was a former Head of Department of Public Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, a Women’s Right advocate, a campaigner against domestic and sexual based violence and an expert in Rule of Law.
Mohammed had swapped his position as the Honourable Federal Commissioner for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) with the former Director General of NAPTIP, Mrs Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, on May 27 2021.