By Favour Nnabugwu

ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr Lawal Daura in acting capacity as the new Director-General of Department of State Service (DSS).

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi, in a letter released, yesterday, said the appointment was with immediate effect.

Daura was born in Daura on August 5, 1953.  He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977 to 1980 and started career in the State Security Service in 1982 and rose to the rank of a Director.

He was at one time the Deputy Director, Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre at the Presidential Villa, Abuja between 2003 and 2007.  He also served as the State Director of Security Service at various times in Kano, Sokoto, Edo, Lagos, Osun and Imo States.

He attended various professional courses both home and abroad including the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS) Kuru.

Daura took over from the Ita Ekpeyong, the erstwhile Director-General of DSS, who first assumed office on September 7, 2010. Ekpeyong was reappointed by President Goodluck Jonathan in September 2014 for another four years which was supposed to run through September 2018.

Before his elevation to the top post at the agency, Ekpeyong had served as a state director of state security in states like Bauchi, Kwara, Lagos, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.