Senate Appoints Shaba as NASRDA DG

The Senate has  confirmed the appointment of Dr. Halilu Shaba as the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency.

The red chamber gave the approval following the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology at plenary in Abuja, chaired by Senator Uche Ekwunife.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, asked the Senate to confirm Shaba as DG NASRDA.

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

Shaba had been in acting capacity as DG of the agency 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 Shaba two days earlier to continue in an acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive DG for the agency by the Federal Government.

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

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

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