Lawan appoints Chief of Staff, media aide

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has appointed a Chief of Staff and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

Mr Lawan approved the appointments of Babagana Muhammad Aji and Festus Adedayo as his Chief of Staff and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity respectively.

The appointments were announced in a statement signed by Special Adviser to the Senate President on Administration, Betty Okoroh.

The appointments take immediate effect, the statement notes.

“The appointments were made based on merit, experience, track record and competency of Aji and Adedayo needed by the Senate President in executing his planned legislative agenda,” the statement added.

According to the statement, Mr Aji, who is currently an Administrative Coordinator of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Outreach Services, holds a Master Degree in Educational Planning and Administration, and another one in Public Administration both from University of Maiduguri.

He started his working career with the University of Maiduguri in 1987 as Administrative Assistant and rose to become the Registrar of the University in 1997.

He later joined the services of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) where he was appointed as Director in 2016.

He is a member of several professional bodies including the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and Registered Administrative Managers of Nigeria, and attended several workshops, trainings and conferences both locally and abroad

Mr Adedayo holds a Ph.D. in Political Communication from the University of Ibadan, and a member of Editorial Board of Tribune newspapers.

He was Special Adviser on Media to Oyo state governor between 2011 to 2015, Special Adviser on Media to Enugu state governor between 2004 to 2007 and Special Assistant to Enugu state governor on Public Policy Analysis between 2003 and 2004.