Acting DSS director-general Matthew Seiyefa pressured by presidential cabal to recall redeployed officers

ACTING Department of State Services (DSS) director-general Matthew Seiyefa has bowed to pressure from the presidency and recalled several officers he transferred out of the agency's headquarters when he resumed office on August 1.

Last month, Mr Seiyefa was appointed as the acting head of the DSS to replace Lawal Daura who was sacked by acting president Professor Yemi Osinbajo for getting his men to invade the National Assembly. Following his appointment, Mr Seiyefa decided to get rid of several Daura loyalists at the DSS headquarters by transferring them to the states and naming his own people into key and sensitive positions.

However, his decision has been unpopular with those close to the president, especially the members of his kitchen cabinet, headed by the chief of staff in the presidency Abba Kyari, who like the former DSS boss and the president, is from Daura. Apparently, Mr Kyari scolded the new DSS boss for carrying out a reorganisation in the agency without clearance from the presidential villa.

Among those Mr Seiyefa transferred out of DSS headquarters included the director of operations, Bassey Eteng  and another director Grace Kentebe. Both of them were among those that Mr Kyari asked Mr Seiyefa to return to their duty posts.

One DSS source said: “There is tension everywhere because the directive has been complied with by personnel, most especially by those who instigated it. Both Eteng and Kentebe have reported and personnel morale is at its lowest ebb.

“Even quite a significant number of the personnel of northern extraction are not happy with the chief of staff because they said himself and the ousted director-general had not been good to the service. Meanwhile, there is every possibility that the service may witness an unprecedented protest against the undue interference in the affairs of the service by the chief of staff to the president.”

Some members of the presidency cabal were said to have been making moves aimed at frustrating the confirmation of the acting director-general. These presidential aides who were said not to be happy about the unceremonious sacking of Mr Daura, were also said to be lobbying to have a say in who would replace him.

Mr Daura, it was gathered,  had nominated Mr Eteng as a worthy successor and could be useful to the cabal ahead of the 2019 elections. Also, the cabal is believed to be considering other options, including the possibility of appointing a substantive director-general outside the service.

Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has faulted the alleged moves by the presidency to remove Mr Seiyefa as the director-general of the DSS and reinstate the sacked Mr Daura.IYC president Eric Omare, said: “While the IYC recognises the fact that the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the power to hire and fire head of security agencies in the country, we wish to state that the president also has a corresponding mandatory constitutional duty to ensure that such appointments are in line with the federal character principle.

“As of today, Seiyefa is one of the few heads of security agencies in Nigeria from the southern part of the country, hence it would amount to grave violation of the federal character principle of the constitution to replace Seiyefa, who was appointed less than a month ago. Consequently, the IYC strongly calls on President Buhari to put a stop to the Satanic plan by the presidency cabal to replace Seiyefa as director-general of the DSS because there is no basis for it."