Tuesday’s siege of the National Assembly Complex by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS) is one invasion too many under the watch of the sacked Director General of the secret police, Lawal Duara.
From a sting operation and invasion of some judges’ homes in 2016, submitting a damning security report to the Senate, indicting Ibrahim Magu, President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominee for the position of Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), continued detention of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, against court orders, clash of the secret police with personnel of the anti-graft agency over arrest of DSS former Director, Ita Ekpeyong and Tuesday’s invasion of the National Assembly, the DSS under Daura was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
Several conspiracies have been spawned about how the eight-hour exercise was carried out.
While one theory fingered the Senate President Bukola Saraki for sponsoring the plot to whip up public sentiment, another accused him of staging the plot to foment violence as part of his last-minute bid to halt his impeachment.
The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) believes in these two theories.
In a statement on Wednesday, acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena, said investigations by the ruling party uncovered and noted the following: “We are now aware that the timely intervention of the security operatives forestalled the planned violence which could have led to possible deaths, injuries and destruction of property in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“Why did the Senate President mobilise thugs to the National Assembly who almost lynched Hon. E.J. Agbonayinma, the only APC federal lawmaker present but for the timely intervention of security operatives.
“Why did the Senate President reconvene the National Assembly? Ostensibly as a pre-emptive move to frustrate federal lawmakers move to impeach him.
“Is it not curious that only Peoples Democratic Party PDP federal lawmakers were present in their numbers-some as early as 7am, while the majority APC federal lawmakers were elsewhere holding a caucus meeting on the state of the nation?”
The APC called “on security agencies and relevant bodies to as a matter of urgency probe these findings and take all necessary and legitimate action to stop these illegalities which pose a direct and ominous threat to our democracy.
“As espoused in our earlier statement, whilst our contention with the leadership of the National Assembly as currently constituted is a matter of public record, we still believe that the legislature as an independent arm of government must be allowed free reign for vibrant contestation of ideas and values amongst its members within the context of their constitutional mandate and for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
“Finally, we reiterate our call for the Senate President to resign from the position immediately as he no longer has the moral and legitimate ground to occupy that position as a member of the minority PDP. Going by the popular axiom, ‘the majority will have their way, but the minority will have their say”, the party added.
In what appears to be a new twist, a damning report by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had alleged that Daura was playing a role orchestrated by “…highly placed politicians to achieve selfish political goals hence his unilateral and unlawful decision to invade the National Assembly Complex…”
The report emphasised that the former DG did not act on his own stead, but was working with unnamed top politicians to block the National Assembly with a view to embarrassing the Federal Government.
In their swift reaction, Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu have raised the alarm that the Federal Government has commenced the execution of a plot to implicate them and their colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the recent invasion.
In a joint statement by their media aides, Yusuph Olaniyonu and Uche Anichukwu, the two legislative leaders stated that after receiving the interim report submitted by the Inspector General of Police, the Presidency constituted a closet panel to review the report and submit a final recommendation.
The mandate of this closet panel, the two legislators stated, is to turn facts on the head and blame the invasion of the National Assembly on the two leaders of the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, who will then be presented as having worked in tandem with the sacked Director General of the DSS, Lawal Daura, to stage the parliamentary security breach.
Ahead of next week’s reconvening of the Senate to consider the N242 billion 2019 elections budget, the two Presiding Officers have also uncovered a sinister plot in which the government plans to use the anti-graft and security agencies to incarcerate them and some members of their families from next week, in a bid to effect their removal.
Addressing a world press conference on Wednesday, Saraki also accused the secret police for plotting his impeachment with All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers for many months.
According to him, the plan was to allow some APC senators gain entry to the Complex with a view to impeaching him.
His words: “This was planned for months, and those who approached the officers said that they had a list of those that would be allowed to go in. The plan was for certain APC lawmakers in the Senate to be given access, and members arrived whose names were not on that list, they were not allowed to go in.
“The reason why they were not here was because they were holding a meeting somewhere else. They held a meeting the night before but it was inconclusive. If that meeting were to be conclusive, they would have been here as early as 8am“.
But addressing a world press conference on Wednesday, Saraki accused the secret police for plotting his impeachment with All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers for many months.
According to him, the plan was to allow some APC senators gain entry to the Complex with a view to impeaching him.
His words: “This was planned for months, and those who approached the officers said that they had a list of those that would be allowed to go in. The plan was for certain APC lawmakers in the Senate to be given access, and members arrived whose names were not on that list, they were not allowed to go in.
“The reason why they were not here was because they were holding a meeting somewhere else. They held a meeting the night before but it was inconclusive. If that meeting were to be conclusive, they would have been here as early as 8am“.
Speaking on the development, a former Director at DSS, Dennis Amachree, called for the amendment of the law establishing the agency to enable it report solely to the National Assembly.
This, he argued, is to prevent abuse.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Amachree, who retired from the DSS as Assistant Director (Investigations & Intelligence) in 1999, argued that this would prevent abuse of the agency by an individual.
He pointed out that although the law provides that the agency should report to both the President and the National Assembly, the aspect of the Presidency should be ‘cancelled out’.
“They should be reporting to the National Assembly only because they represent the people. But not to a particular person.
“It will make all the difference because then you will find out that the security agencies are not leaning towards any person. They will be neutral,” he stated.
He also called for the setting up of National Assembly police which would be in charge of security in the Complex as obtained in other parts of the world. This, he submitted, would avoid a repeat of the recent siege.
As both the APC and PDP lay claim to having the majority in the Senate and as the governing party mounts pressure on Saraki to resign or be impeached, observers say these issues may dominate centre stage as the National Assembly resumes next week while the 2019 election budget may be relegated to backstage.
