One of the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries by the Federal Government, Alhaji Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, who was posted to the Ministry of Communications resumed duties at the Ministry today, August 23, 2017, at a colourful hand-over ceremony.

The former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Arc. Sonny Echono, who has been posted to the Ministry of Education was on hand to hand over to his successor.

The new Permanent Secretary, is a Katsina State born Accountant and Financial Manager. Over the past three decades, he has worked in a wide variety of professional capacities in both the private and public sector.

Until his appointment, he was the Director of Finance and Accounts in Nigeria Security and Defence Corps, Abuja. He’s a recipient of various certificates in management, accounting, and computer appreciation courses.

Abdullahi was born in Mashi, Mashi LGA of Katsina State on the 12th of August 1961, about a year after Nigeria gained her independence.

He attended LEA Mashi Primary School between 1968 and 1974 where he attained his First School Leaving Certificate.

He then moved to Katsina where he attended the then Government College Katsina from the year 1974 to 1979. In the spring of ’79, he got admitted into one of the premier universities of Northern Nigeria, Bayero University Kano where he majored in Accounting, graduating in 1983 with Second class Upper honours degree. In the summer of 2010, he decided to put his long and illustrious civil service career on hold to allow him go back to school. He earned his MBA in Financial Management through the University of Plymouth’s Business School, MBA program.

His first working experience was with the Bauchi Area Office of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria where he served his one-year youth service program. He had a brief stint as the Inspector of Taxes II at the Internal Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, of the old Kaduna state before moving to African Petroleum Plc, Lagos in 1985 where he worked for over a decade as an Internal Auditor and Plant Accountant. He decided to return to public service in 1994 where he served for 3 years as the Chief Finance Officer of the defunct National Board of Community Banks. In the month of July 1997, he was posted to the Office of the Chief of General Staff where he served for 2 years as the Assistant Chief Accountant.

In 1999 he was posted to the Office of the National Security Adviser where he served rising to the post of Acting Director of Finance owing to his prodigious work ethic and loyalty, working under three illustrious retired Generals.

He stayed in that post till 2011 when he was posted back to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the Director, Finance and Accounts II in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

In March of 2015, he served briefly as the Director of Internal Audit in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation before he was again moved to the State House, Presidential Villa to assume the post of Director Internal Audit.

In June this year, he was again posted to Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as Director, Finance and Accounts, the position he left to become the new Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications.