Fall Of Daura: End Of The The President’s Right Hand Man?

Daura, …sacked

News Analysis By Cami Ezenwa

If there are public officers whose appointment appear dogged by controversy from day one, then, the man Lawal Musa Daura fits the bill.

His not only created disquiet in a lot of quarters right from the outset, but has remained the subject of both hushed discussions on the corridors of power and controversy in the larger polity.

This flows from the way he is discharged his office before this monumental fall.

In fact, it was said that he was instrumental to President Buhari’s prompt dismantling of Jonathan’s structure, even while the latter was not forthcoming with the appointment of ministers in the administration.

By his appointment on July 2, 2015, he promptly replaced Ita Ekpenyong who had just been reappointed for another term in 2014 by former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

This development meant that Daura, was returning to the SSS from retirement and this got a lot of people worried, some voicing out their angst.

An example was the civil society group – International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), which not only opposed the appointment, but marshaled out points why it should not be allowed.

Intersociety called it a Constitutionally Prodigal Appointment being that the man was brought back from statutory retirement to head such an organ of state security.

“From Alhaji Daura’s indisputable profile… he served and retired as “a director” of the SSS in August 2013 having attained mandatory retirement age of 60 years, and having been born on 3rd August, 1953. Mr. Lawal Musa Daura by virtue of his university graduation in 1980, joined the NSO (now SSS) in 1982 as “a cadet officer” at the rank of “Senior Intelligence Officer 2” (SIO 11) from where he rose in ranks and retired as a director in August 2013.

Again, by public provision of concrete evidence by some political groups, including PDP linking Mr. Daura to partisanship (appointed by Buhari and APC into 2015 APC election security & intelligence committee); the principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and non-partisanship enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, have been murderously breached

“Therefore, bringing him back from statutory retirement and making him “acting Director General” of SSS, is coupist and unconstitutional”.

None of the above could sway Buhari as the man continued in office.

Daura had equally been at loggerheads with another close ally of President Buhari, Hammed Ali, this time round, over allegations and counter allegations of unprofessionalism and illegality in the discharge of duties.

This blew to the open in December of 2016, when he wrote a letter to the boss, dated September 8, accusing the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS), of introducing a $25,000 as new Temporary Import Permit (TIP), levy on each vessel that berths to discharge petroleum products in Nigeria.

He got the ears of Buhari that the said levy, was illegal as it was not provided for on the PPRA template, not receipted, and could increase the cost of petrol by 56 kobo per litre.

Daura also reported that the alleged introduction of $25,000 TIP levy followed the detention of a vessel, MT Histria Ivory, at Apapa by NCS operatives.

Audience with the president gave  Mr. Ali the platform also to spill the beans of how  the SSS under Mr. Daura appeared to be more interested in smear campaign and personal vendetta than in thorough investigation and anti-corruption efforts of the administration.

He explained that the said vessel, MT Histria Ivory, was truly detained but that was after it was sighted discharging cargo at Apapa Jetty.  According to him, the reported detention was to ascertain whether or not it was liable for payment of duty.

Mr. Ali insisted that the issuance of TIP does not involve payment of money and that the NCS had stopped conducting cash transactions since 2001.Afterwards, there had been no love lost between the two.

Last year, Daura was openly alleged to be plotting the removal of Mr Ibrahim Magu as the acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and to be redeployed back to the Nigeria Police Force.

The plot was allegedly in concert with two others, Mr. Mamman Daura, the influential nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari, and Mr. Abba  Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Buhari,

To that extent, he had prepared a negative dossier on the EFCC helmsman, hoping to capitalise on Buhari’s ailing helath to have their way.

But when this did not work, he was alleged to have personally approached the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Lawal K. Idris to recall Mr. Magu from the EFCC back to the Nigerian police force.

This is the man that the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has fired, while the president is away.

Some just said: it is matters arising