President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Director General of the State Security Service, Ita Ekpenyong, some say he was forced to resign and go home.
The removal of Ekpenyong and appointment of his replacement was announced Thursday by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi, via a statement by the Director of Communications in his office, Haruna Imrana.
President Buhari has appointed a new SSS DG, his name is:
Lawal Daura. According to the statement, Mr. Daura was born in Daura on the August, 5, 1953.
He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977 – 1980.
He started his carrier in the State Security Service in 1982 and rose to the rank of Director.
He was at one time the Deputy Director, Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre, at the Presidential Villa Abuja between 2003 and 2007.
He also served as State Director of Security Service at various times in Kano, Sokoto, Edo, Lagos, Osun and Imo States.
He attended various professional courses both home and abroad including the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS) Kuru.
The appointment is with immediate effect.
The removal of Mr. Ekpenyong, who was appointed DG of the agency on September 7, 2010, has long been expected. Under him, the SSS became partisan, especially in the run-up to the 2015 general elections.
According to PT, rather than gathering intelligence to make the country safe, the agency busied itself more with harassing and arresting opposition figures, ransacking firms and offices with ties to the All Progressives Congress and appearing on television to disparage opposition politicians and their party.
The SSS also consistently disparaged the APC in the media, accusing the party and its leaders of being behind the deadly Boko Haram insurgency.
And after the Osun election, the agency’s spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, rushed to the media, claiming that some opposition APC politicians offered the Service’s personnel 14 million naira bribe.
The SSS is yet to substantiate that allegation and no one has been charged to court for bribery.
Perhaps due to its brazen partisanship during the Goodluck Jonathan era, President Buhari has related with the agency with suspicion since his assumption of duties at the presidential villa.
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