The Presidential Support Committee (PSC) has described as unpatriotic and diversionary the call for the sack of Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Yusuf Magaji Bichi, over the re-arrest of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Mr Omoyele Sowore.
The committee’s reaction followed an editorial published on Friday by an online paper, Premium Times, in which it claimed the DG DSS had become a major threat to the norms and values of a democratic system and, therefore, the time has come for him to step down as the head of the secret police.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Director of Communication and Strategic Planning, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, the PSC said it was “appalled by the Editorial by Premium Times” calling for the removal of the DSS boss over the operations of the DSS operatives.
It maintained that that the DG DSS is a law-abiding citizen, and under him, the agency has maintained the highest regard for the laws of the land and would not do anything to undermine law and order.
Ibrahim urged Nigerians to ignore the position of the online paper, describing it as the ranting of anti-democratic elements in the country’s political space who are bent on destabilizing the Buhari administration.
He stated: “The Presidential Support Committee (PSC) wishes to ask Nigerians and indeed, the teaming supporters of the Buhari administration not to be distracted by the purported editorial by Premium Times. The call for the head of Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mallam Yusuf Magaji Bichi is diversionary and unpatriotic and it is unfortunate that a respected online paper like Premium Times would allow itself as willing tool in the hands of those who are bent on ensuring that Nigeria implodes under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Mallam Yusuf Bichi we know and who Nigerians know further and better is highly law-abiding and always wishes to act according to the provisions of the extant laws of the country. He is not known to be going zigzag or undercutting corners in any matter. Rather, he is highly straightforward and upright in his private or official conduct”.
The PSC further urged the opposition to allow the security agency do its job “within the ambit of the law instead of coercing it with politically stage-managed editorials”.
Ibrahim reiterated the committee’s position that the DSS under the leadership of Yusuf Bichi is not a lawless agency and will never obstruct justice or disobey court orders.
He said, “Premium Times should realise that Yusuf Magaji Bichi is a consummate professional who has been a big asset to the Nigerian intelligence community. What one would have expected from the critics is to ask if Sowore’s release would guarantee national security. Instead, they have once again chosen to play politics.
“We appeal to Nigerians to leave political sentiments out of the security system. It is quite unfair to pick holes in the operations of the DSS because from available records, the DSS are working based on intelligence report.
“Once again, we want to note that nobody is above the country’s laws. The opposition should allow the Department of State Services (DSS) do its job. Nobody should play bastardized politics just because he has approved to destroy democracy and its dividends Nigerians are enjoying from the fight against corruption and insecurity.
“It amounts to gross politicisation of the country’s security for some self-acclaimed critics to attack the DSS. Instead of making certain derogatory remarks, they should allow the law take its cause”.
