President Buhari has appointed Ibrahim Gambari, a former chancellor of Kwara State University and Northern Muslim from Kwara State as the new Chief of Staff few weeks after the death of the former chief of staff Abba Kyari.
Abba Kyari serve as a chief of staff to the President of Nigeria from August 2015 to April 2020 before his untimely death to Coronavirus..
The late business man, lawyer and government official was an influential figure within the Buhari's administration and he worked mainly behind the scenes to implement the President agenda. On 24 March 2020, it was reported that Kyari had tested positive to the deadly COVID 19 following an official trip to Germany nine days before. He later died on 17 April 2020 after it was reported that he had history of medical complications including diabetes.
However, to fill in the void left behind by the late chief of staff, according to presidential source and the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu- Gambari, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, a 75 year old retired diplomat has named the new Chief of staff to the President
Mr Gambari who obtained his M.A (1970) and Ph.D (1974) degrees in political science and International relation from Columbia University, New York, USA once served as a minister for external affairs in 1984 and 1985 when Buhari was the then military head of state.
Mr Gambari was also the chairman of the UN special committee against Apartheid in 1990 and 1994, working with African government to eradicate apartheid.
In January 2010, Mr Gambari was appointed the chairperson of the African Union commission as joint African Union- United Nations Special Representative for Darfur by the secretary General of United Nations Ban ki- moon.
In 2012, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa awarded Mr Gambari with the highest national honour conferred on non- citizens, the order of the Companies of O.R.Tambo.
In March 2013, he was also appointed the as the first chancellor, Kwara State University.
