Senate President Bukola Saraki has denied allegations he compromised Lawal Daura, the director-general of the State Security Service who was sacked yesterday.
He also noted that the National Assembly was demanding an investigation to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.
Saraki has been accused by the ruling All Progressives Congress and its supporters online that he was the one who plotted the controversial blockade of the National Assembly.
Saraki responded to the claim on Wednesday at a press briefing, which his media office tagged as a ‘world press conference’, saying it was counter-intuitive.
“Let us not insult the intelligence of Nigerians,” Saraki said of the attacks, adding that he was also a victim of alleged recklessness of security chiefs, including Daura.
“We thank the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for his handling of the situation we were all confronted with yesterday. His decisive action went a long way towards restoring confidence and the image of our country. It sent a powerful message – that the DSS cannot be recklessly deployed against institutions of our democracy. The path of leadership is not by party, and we must commend it wherever it is found. Mr. Acting President did the right thing. However, the damage control so far does not address the question of how this invasion was allowed to happen in the first place.
“This is an incident concerning which we have it on good authority that it has been in the planning for months. How is it that such an atrocity was not prevented? How is it that the masterminds were not deterred? Very serious questions remain that can only be answered by a full investigation. We call for an investigation, and we demand that all perpetrators are brought to book. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that such a situation never occurs again. Many agencies have abused their powers and acted outside the ambit of the law on occasion. Where abuses occur, similar actions must be taken immediately and full investigation instituted”, Saraki said.
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