President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Maj-Gen. Adamu Laka as the new National Coordinator, National Counter-Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Laka replaces Rear Admiral Musa (retd.), whom former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed as the pioneer Coordinator in August 2022.

The Presidency announced Laka’s appointment on Tuesday in a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu appoints new national coordinator for national counter-terrorism centre.’

Laka served in various capacities in Nigeria’s North-East.

He also served in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo under the United Nations and was part of the Nigerian contingent in the US AFRICOM exercise in Senegal.

He holds a Master’s Degree in National Security from the National Defence University, Pakistan, and in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy.

The President said he expects Laka to “bring his vast experience into this critical role to effectively remove security threats through pre-emptive, proactive, and diligent counter-terrorism coordination.”

The NCTC was established in 2012 as a directorate in the Office of the National Security Adviser. This followed the signing of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011, which was amended in 2013.

On March 21, 2023, former President Buhari launched NCTC’s new base in Abuja, a facility he said would serve as his major infrastructural legacy to the incoming administration to effectively coordinate national security and counterterrorism efforts.