Buhari Appoints Daura as New Director-General of DSS

03 Jul 2015

Lawal Musa Daura

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Lawal Musa Daura as the new Director General, Department of State Security Service (DSS), as a replacement for Mr. Ita Ekpeyong.

The appointment was conveyed yesterday in a letter by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi.
The appointment of Daura is the second this week, following the naming of Mrs Amina Zakari as acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday.

President Buhari has been accused of being slow, especially in constituting his cabinet and other critical functionaries of his administration.

The new DSS boss, Daura, was born in Daura on August 5, 1953.  He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977 to 1980.
Daura started his career in the State Security Service in 1982 and rose to the rank of Director.
He was a Deputy Director Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre at the Presidential Villa Abuja between 2003 and 2007.

He also served as the State Director of Security Service at various times in Kano, Sokoto, Edo, Lagos, Osun and Imo States.
The information on him shows that he attended various professional courses both at home and abroad including the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

Daura's appointment has brought to an abrupt end the leadership of Ekpeyong, whose tenure was renewed last by former President Goodluck Jonathan for another four years.
The spokesperson of the Service, Marilyn Ogar, while confirming Ekpeyong's reappointment last year, had said the renewal followed Ekpeyong’s “superb” performance.

Ogar however noted that the appointment of the DSS boss was at the discretion of the president in line with the National Securities Act and the Instrument establishing the State Security Service (SSS).

"Instrument no. SSS 1 of the NSA Decree of 1986, Cap 278 of the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (LFN) Schedule 4 subsection 2, talks about the appointment and tenure of the Director General State Security,” she had said.

Ekpeyong, who lost out in the latest development, was first appointed Director General of the SSS on September 7, 2010 following the dismissal of Afakriya Gadzama by the then President Jonathan.
He however lost the trust and confidence of President Buhari who felt that the Service under his leadership was highly partisan and opposed to his emergence.

THISDAY broke the story of the growing anxiety over the military, DSS rivalry and alleged militarisation of the Presidency and State House at the expense of other security agencies.
The exclusive report exposed bad blood between over 200 military officers and personnel drafted into the Aso Rock Villa for the security of President Buhari on the one hand and over 250 men of the DSS who have been in charge of such security details since the nation’s democratic dispensation.

According to a source, the ensuing cold war has resulted to threats and harassment of the men of the State Security Services (SSS) who have resisted any move to strip them of their duties.
“There is now struggle and threats in the Villa as the current people in the Villa (SSS) are being harassed and shoved aside,” the source alleged.

The source explained that legally and since the inception of democratic dispensation in 1999, DSS has been in charge of security of the Presidency, State House and other important visiting dignitaries, with the assistance of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The source said: “With the on-going arrangement, are we not violating Section 315 Subsection 5 together with Section 9 subsection 2 of the Constitution, which deal with the National Security Act as well as the required procedure for altering constitutional provision? This placed the security of the Villa and the President to the DSS, DIA, NIA and NPF and when you put all this together it is being coordinated by the SSS. That is why they are allowed to carry guns.

“The fear now with what is going on and many are asking if we having an Abacha strike squad with the introduction of over 200 military officers and men, side by side with over 250 SSS? Who has the constitutional power to effect the latest arrangement? Is it President Buhari or is it Dambazzau, Jibrin or Abubakar?”

Following the THISDAY report,  the Aide-de-Camp,(ADC) to the President, Lt-Col. Muhammed Abubakar Lawal, contrary to initial denial by the presidency, was reported to have formally informed the DSS that its personnel would no longer provide protection for the president as they are being replaced with men of the Nigerian Army and police personnel “who were trained as presidential bodyguards”.

The memo, which was said to have been issued by Lawal, listed about seven areas where the military and the police were expected to take over from the DSS operatives “with immediate effect.” These "no go areas" listed in the memo include the Admin reception/passage; Service Chiefs gate; residence reception and office reception among others.
However, the personnel of the DSS in conjunction with other security forces are to man other duty beats/locations within the immediate outer perimeter of the Presidential Villa.

However, sources within the military have debunked these claims as baseless, insisting that even though the arrangement for State Security, especially around the Villa and the Presidency has been anchored by the DSS since 1999 such matters are not constitutional.

The controversy took a new twist when President Buhari’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Abdulrahman Mani, revoked the order by the ADC, removing the operatives of the DSS from giving Buhari close body protection.
Mani had in the memo countermanding Lawal's order, directed the DSS operatives to disregard the order, which he noted was a misrepresentation of Buhari’s directive.

The CSO cited Section 2(I )(ii) of Instrument No.SSS 1 of May 23, 1999 made pursuant to Section 6 of the National Security Agencies Decree of 1986, which has been re-enacted as Section 6 of NSA Act CAP N74 LFN 2004.

According to him, the law establishing the SSS empowered its personnel to provide security for designated principal government functionaries, which includes but not limited to the president and vice-president as well as members of their immediate families.

Mani noted that the law also mandates the DSS to provide protective security for sensitive installations such as the Presidential Villa and visiting foreign dignitaries.

He further explained that the DSS personnel at the State House and close to the president were well vetted and trained with constant background checks to confirm their suitability and loyalty.

The memo read: “In fact, the issues raised in the aforementioned (ADC’s) circular tend to suggest that the author may have ventured into a not-too-familiar terrain.

“The extant practice, the world over, is that VIP protection, which is a specialised field, is usually handled by the Secret Service, under whatever nomenclature.

“They usually constitute the inner core security ring around every principal. The Police and the military by training and mandate are often required to provide secondary and tertiary security cordons around venues and routes.

“However, all other security agencies, including the army, the police and others, also have their roles to play. It is on this note that heads of all security agencies currently in the Presidential Villa and their subordinates are enjoined to key into the existing command and control structure.
"They are to work in harmony with one another in full and strict compliance with the demands of their statutorily prescribed responsibilities."

Consequently, with the crisis blown open and the realisation that the presidency could not jettison DSS personnel and whose boss, it alleged it did not trust, the decision was taken to appoint a new but trusted head.