‘Please help me beg Buhari’ Daura plead with governors

For fear of been tried like a common criminal following his unceremonious dismissal from service, sacked Director General of the Department of State Security Service DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura is said to have reach out to some powerful governors believed to be closer to President Muhammadu Buhari.

It will be recalled that Daura was dismissed from office by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo for his alleged role in Tuesday’s siege of National Assembly by the security officers, thereby preventing lawmakers, staff and journalists from entering the complex.

Sources close to some of the governors and traditional rulers contacted told DAILY DISPATCH that Daura has been contacting some people particularly those he thinks Buhari listen to.

According to the source, Daura has realized he made serious mistakes and that the President is seriously angry with him, “his fear is that he might be put on trial and treated like a common criminal”, he said.

“He begging them so that when Buhari returns from his vacation they will plead on his behalf”.

According to the source, the presidency discovered Daura has some links with the Senate President, adding the invasion of NASS complex and others in the past have been linked to him and the Senate President.

Our source further informed that, Daura has put several calls to one of the governors in South West and another from North, also some powerful traditional rulers was alleged to have been contacted, so he can have a soft landing.

Already one of the national dailies reported today that the EFCC is preparing to interrogate Daura over an alleged N17billion scam.

EFCC was said to have visited Daura Tuesday evening at police facility located at Guzape, Abuja where he was being held.

“It is expected that the former DSS boss will be handed [to the EFCC] over by the police for further interrogation to explain how the N17 billion traced to the headquarters of the DSS was utilized,” said one of the sources at the anti-graft agency.

The money, it was further learnt, was left behind by the Daura’s predecessor Ita Ekpeyong. It was alleged that Ekpeyong received N20 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the end of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

Ekpeyong, it was also alleged, converted N17 billion into United States of America (USA) dollars, which he left behind when he handed over to Daura.

The funds were reportedly traced by EFCC investigators as a fall out of discoveries after the $43 million linked to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was found stashed at a private apartment inside Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos.

EFCC sources said operatives of the commission had been working on the investigation report that indicted the management of the DSS, but that the investigation was frustrated by Daura.

DSS agents, on the orders of Daura, prevented EFCC agents from arresting Ita Ekpeyong and sacked DG of NIA Ayo Oke on November 21, 2017, to prevent the investigation.

“So now is a good time to get Daura to answer questions in connection to the investigation earlier started,” sources said.