If you watch closely, you
would notice that Saraki’s personal photographer Tope Brown was among
those recording the scene, how could he have been there if his principal
did not know about the event? It is clear to the discerning eye that
what happened today was a concocted script,” the source said.
There are indications that the sack of the
Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura,
by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had been months in the making,
especially because of his suspected connivance with the Senate President
and others in the National Assembly against the Muhammadu Buhari
administration.
Top government sources revealed that before Osinbajo eventually
announced his sacking on Tuesday, the President himself had made up his
mind to fire the former DG few days before he embarked on a 10-day
vacation to the UK.
Osinbajo had directed the termination of the appointment of the DSS
boss following the invasion of the National Assembly complex by some DSS
officers in what the Presidency described as an “unlawful, condemnable
and completely unacceptable act, which was done without the knowledge of
the Presidency is”.
How the NASS ‘siege’ played outOur correspondent
gathered that Saraki’s loyalists may have staged the NASS invasion on
Tuesday in connivance with some DSS officials, of which Daura was chief.
This, the source said, was done to trump up sympathy for the Senate
President following his defection from the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and also rally
public support for Saraki's presidential ambition.
Before the
reported invasion of the National Assembly by DSS officers, who
curiously wore hoods to mask their identities, our correspondent
gathered that Saraki’s loyalists had arranged for cameras, TV crews and
some reporters to gather at the National Assembly gates before the
purported invasion so as to record the event. As the stage was set, DSS
officers were then called in by Saraki’s camp to complete the stage
managed invasion.
“If you watch closely, you would notice that
Saraki’s personal photographer Tope Brown was among those recording the
scene, how could he have been there if his principal did not know about
the event? It is clear to the discerning eye that what happened today
was a concocted script,” the source said.
The source added that what was more annoying is that "the sacked DG
SSS did not tell the President or the Acting President; even the staff
of the President who he would normally relate with were caught totally
unawares".
Daura and the Saraki linkAlthough it remains
unclear if the disgraced DSS boss was actually working for Saraki as
alleged in some quarters, investigations from our correspondent showed
that on several occasions, Buhari had decided to remove Daura over
allegations of colluding with Saraki to undermine his government.
One
of the issues that gave Daura away was during the drama with the Senate
over the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC boss. Despite the
presidency clearing the Acting EFCC boss, the Senate opposed Magu’s
confirmation as substantive head of EFCC because of “security reports”
from the DSS. The Senate based its decision on Paragraph 14 of the DSS
letter on Magu, which stated: “In the light of the foregoing, Magu has
failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to
the anti-corruption stance of the current government”.
However,
insiders said this was an indication that Saraki may have been behind
the ploy to frustrate the move by the Presidency. The sacked DG went
ahead to present that security report to the Senate after the President
indicated to him that he was satisfied with Magu's candidature, and had
no problems with his integrity record.
The NASS siege was the
final nail on the Daura sack, as it showed his hand to the Presidency
that he may have been working against them. Curiously, at the invasion
of NASS by some DSS officers on Tuesday, only PDP senators were on hand
and reportedly refused entry into the National Assembly by the DSS
officers. Sources at the place said not one APC Senator was there.
Further
investigation by our correspondent that the claim by DSS that they were
acting on orders from above were false and the statement from the
Presidency also made that well-known that the sacked DG acted on his
own.
Once untouchable DauraFake news materials have
been circulating online and on social media, for instance that when
confronted by his sack, Daura allegedly dismissed the news, saying that
he was only called for an interrogation at the villa. In the fake news
materials being circulated on WhatApp, he was also said to have claimed
that he acted based on the instructions given by the APC chairman
through the Chief of staff to the President. But Aso Rock sources
confirmed that no such claims were made and no such instructions were
given. "There was even no meeting today between anyone in the villa with
the sacked DG, including the Acting President, although such claims
were being falsely circulated on WhatApp.
As of the time of going to press, the sacked DG was still being
questioned by security agencies who had disarmed him and his convoy on
arrival at the Villa. SaharaReporters reported that the sacked DG was
arrested and grilled overnight by a combined team of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police officers at Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) headquarters in Abuja.
