Who gave sacked Director-General of the Department of States Services, DSS, Lawal Daura the order to invade the National Assembly and deny lawmakers access into their chambers? Who is the famed “order from above” that one of the DSS operatives quoted to have given the order? ADVERTISING Daura Some narratives have it that President Buhari gave the order.
Another said it came from Saraki. Others said Daura acted on his own. So, from whom does the DSS take orders and report to? These are some of the questions being expressed in the views of many Nigerians. Recall that yesterday, the DSS operatives blocked the National Assembly and prevented lawmakers from gaining access to carry on a crucial emergency sitting the Senate convened to treat pressing issues of national importance. Although many of the lawmakers rose to defend democracy and respect for the tenets of separation of powers which is enshrined in the country’s constitution, the Presidency which is believed to be the sole principal that gives orders to the DSS said it never gave the order to invade the NASS.
In fact, the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo quickly had the services of the DSS boss terminated, describing the DSS invasion of NASS as unauthorised, unconstitutional and unacceptable to the rule of law.
However, this has sparked debate among Nigerians as to who then gave the orders. Can the DSS act without the knowledge of the President? Below are the views of Nigerians as collated from micro-blogging site, twitter:
Femi Fani-Kayode, @realFFK: “Two narratives have been put out about yesterdays sordid events. The first is that Lawal Daura, the former DG of DSS, acted on his own and without any orders from the Presidency. The second is that Daura and Senate President Bukola Saraki plotted the whole affair and…1/2 “that they were working together to discredit and pull down the Buhari govt.. Both narratives are equally asinine. Only an undiscerning and inexperienced fool would believe them. The truth about yesterdays events will eventually come out. When it does, Nigerians will be shocked.”
Ben Murray-Bruce, @benmurraybruce: “The DSS DG was just a fall guy. Those behind this are still at large and they will try again, but I want to assure the next security Chief that attempts this that even if he is not fired, he will be banned for life from getting a US/UK visa.”
Reno Omokri, @renoomokri: “Their latest lie is that Daura, the disgraced DSS DG who wept like a little girl when he was arrested, was working for @BukolaSaraki. Believe this and you will believe anything! Daura was the face of the cabal. He is from the same village as @MBuhari #FrustrateBuhariDictatorship” “Is it only me, or has anyone noticed the extremely loud silence from President
@Mbuhari to all that happened and is happening in Nigeria? Is it that he is still in shock that his plans failed or that his ‘son’ @ProfOsinbajo had the guts to fire Daura? #FrustrateBuhariDictatorship” Mudashiru A. Obasa,
@mudashiru_obasa: “The action of the DSS is condemnable because it’s a desceration on the sanctity of the Parliament. But the acting President has restored the pride of the Parliament through his timely action.”
Cinderella Man, @Osi_Suave: “This spin you lot are trying to do wont work If the DSS reports to the President does that mean every sortie has to be approved by the president? Then why do we have a DG and state directors. The presidency is clear on this issue. The DG acted rogue and was fired.” Official PDP Nigeria,
@OfficialPDPNig: “NASS Invasion: Sack of DG DSS A Subterfuge, We demand for the Prosecution of All Actors: The Ag. President,
@ProfOsinbajo should shed the idea of using the sacked DG of DSS, Lawal Daura as ‘the fall guy’ for Tuesday’s invasion of @nassnigeria by security forces.” APC Nigeria @OfficialAPCNg: “How Security Operatives Stopped @bukolasaraki Plan to Foment Violence @nassnigeria @NGRSenate @HouseNGR over Impeachment.” Bamikole Banks Omisore,
@MrBanksOmishore : “The narrative being set by some folks that the presidency was not in control of the State Security Service that reports directly to the president is DANGEROUS. If this is true, then Nigerians should be very worried who is really in charge of our security apparatus.”
SERAP, @SERAPNigeria: “The invasion of @nassnigeria is patently unlawful & @ProfOsinbajo sacking of DSS head Lawal Daura is a perfect response. But lawmakers ‘chilling out’ with liquor while the NASS lockdown was on suggests many of the lawmakers are simply fighting for themselves & not for Nigerians.” Babanla,
@biolakazeem: “Don’t let anyone gaslight you. What happened at NASS yesterday couldn’t have happened without the president or Acting President‘s say so. It failed & Daura had to be sacrificed. If you believe Daura did it without Buhari/Osinbajo,I have the moon available for sale. Shikili money.”
Tcee, @emmaikumeh: “A former Assistant Director of the SSS on @channelstv said such an action as of yesterday could & would never happen without d knowledge of the President or the Acting President, yet some of you are on here making stupid excuses for the presidency.” Channels Television Verified account, @channelstv: “DSS don’t take directive from anybody except the President or the Acting President, so for DSS to take directive from an opposition party or somebody else is not correct. – Dennis Amachree.” Omojuwa,@Omojuwa: “I have been seeing the argument about whether Actn Pres. Osinbajo acted unilaterally in the sack of DSS’s Daura. The only way he’d do that is if he is at loggerheads w/ President Buhari so the logical thing would be to expect that at least the President was part of the decision.”
King Sola, @Solar_unique: “President Buhari went to bring Lawal Daura from retirement to head the DSS because of loyalty only for Saraki to be using him? You people don’t rate us sha. Lawal Daura belongs to the Presidency within the Presidency, the cabal who believes anything they do can’t be questioned” Rosanwo,
@rosanwo: “How powerful is the Senate President? Can he also instruct the Service Chiefs to do anything, this script writter is making Saraki a god. Beach national security protocol and still be walking free. Very surreal”
Demola Olarewaju, @DemolaRewaju: “What we saw yesterday at the NASS was a rehash if an old and forgotten impeachment script perfected in the days of Obasanjo especially in 2006 – state governors were removed by a minority group of lawmakers, working under the protection and encouragement of FG security forces.”
Since the DSS reports to the president.
Pls who approved the DSS report on Magu an appointee of the President that was sent to the senate?
Cos it beats me as to why the senate needs a dss report to screen an appiontee sha. pic.twitter.com/RoKeg1FBwJ
— Cinderella Man (@Osi_Suave) 8 August 2018
Source: Vanguard
