President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, a former Minister of External Affairs, as his new chief of staff.

Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), announced the appointment during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.

Gambari resumed at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday to participate in the first FEC meeting conducted in nearly two months. Due to social distancing measures to combat the ongoing spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the meeting was conducted via video conference with many cabinet members joining remotely.

Gambari, a Kwara native, replaces the late Abba Kyari, who served as Buhari's chief of staff since his first term inauguration in 2015 until April 2020.

Kyari, 67, died from coronavirus-related complications in Lagos last month, after years of acclaimed influence in the presidency.

New Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari arrives Presidential Villa to pic.twitter.com/8tu1DZaxvY

— Daddy D.O🇳🇬 (@DOlusegun) May 13, 2020

Gambari was the Minister for External Affairs between 1984 and 1985, a time President Buhari was the country's military Head of State.

He was also Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations for nine years between 1990 and 1999.

He also served as the Chairman of the UN's Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations during the same nine-year period.

Gambari is an alumnus of King's College, Lagos; London School of Economics; and Columbia University, New York.

He was named the pioneer chancellor of the Kwara State University in 2013 by then-state governor, AbdulFatah Ahmad.