President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday urged the Senate to approve the appointment of Dr Halilu Shaba Ahmad, as the new Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

Senate President Ahmad Lawan read Buhari’s letter of request on the floor at plenary.

In the letter, Buhari enjoined the lawmakers to give his request an accelerated consideration.

Ahmad has been in acting capacity following the expiration of the two-term tenure of Professor Seidu Mohammed in June 2020.

The Agency had earlier, on July 2, 2019, announced the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Angulu as an acting Director-General to facilitate a seamless transition process between the outgone DG and an incoming one.

Jonathan handed over to Ahmad two days earlier to continue in an acting capacity until the Federal Government appoints a substantive DG.

Before his appointment as an acting Director-General of NASRDA, Ahmad served in various leadership capacities since joining the Agency in 2009.

Most recently, he served as the Director of Strategic Space Applications, in which capacity he led the department’s policy initiations and execution within the national space programmes framework.

Ahmad previously served as a Deputy Director at the National Emergency Management Agency between 2006 and 2009, before joining NASRDA.