Politics
2023: DSS Vows To Wipe Out Terrorists Before Elections
Terrorists, armed groups, insurgents and other violent criminals troubling parts of the country will be wiped out before the 2023 general elections, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) Yusuf Bichi, stated on Monday.
Bichi disclosed this during a meeting with the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in his office in Abuja.
The DSS DG said his optimism comes from the increased tempo and progress made by security agencies in the fight against terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping and other manifestations of insecurity.
He explained that the Service has been up to task in surveillance, intelligence gathering, detection, prevention and arrest of persons whose actions pose danger to public or national security.
He also revealed that security agencies had covered impressive mileage and called on members of the “public to be patriotic by being alert to their civic responsibilities of vigilance, law abiding and supportive of efforts of security agencies in the war against criminals and criminality,” noting that, ‘‘the cooperation of citizens is very critical in checking the menace of bad eggs in the society “.
The DSS boss emphasised the role of the political parties, their candidates and supporters in ensuring peaceful, issue- based campaigns, and not to stoke the “embers of insecurity, anarchy and violence by whipping up divisive sentiments of religion, ethnicity, regional and other fault lines”.
On his part, the National Chairman of IPAC, Yabagi Sani, said the visit was informed by the “rising and frightening “ incidents of insecurity in parts of the country which he noted, must be contained “very urgently and comprehensively” in order to stave off the palpable danger posed to the nation’s progress on the path of democracy.
He further expressed IPAC’s apprehension, adding that “beside the calamities of death, disruption of the nation’s economy and the devastating social dislocations presently on the rampage across the country, the monstrous phenomenon of insecurity palpably portends the capacity of reversing the gains Nigeria has made in the entrenchment and consolidation of democracy by aborting the coming elections in 2023″.
Yabagi further called on the DSS to be engaged in fighting crude oil theft, which he noted, “has reached an alarming proportion that is frightfully threatening the very foundation and survival of the country”.
Making reference to reports of a daily loss of about 400, 000 barrels of crude oil by the country as a result of activities of thieves, Sani observed that, the loss “ of such a humongous source of income, inevitably has a tangential impact on the economy.
“The criminals responsible for the massive stealing in the oil industry are known to the government and the relevant security agencies” and thus the appeal by IPAC to the DSS to, as a matter of national exigency, embark on a frontal campaign of cleansing the rot in the oil sector by going for the unpatriotic elements and their foreign collaborators that are bleeding and asphyxiating the country.”
Accordingly, the IPAC Chairman urged an urgent review of the strategies and approach of security agencies “especially, in view of the 2023 general elections that must be conducted under a secure and peaceful atmosphere to enhance the prospects of the survival and growth of the nation’s democracy”.
The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, says he would not help President Bola Tinubu’s administration to correct the administration’s policies affecting the citizens.
Emir Sanusi spoke on Wednesday in Lagos as the chairman of the 21st Anniversary of Fawehinmiism (Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture 2025).
The emir stated that while there were “a few points” he could offer to explain the trajectory the administration had taken and how such decisions were predictable, he chose not to do so because “they don’t behave like friends.”
He said explaining the government’s policies would help the government, but he did not intend to assist them due to the way they had treated him.
“I can give a few points that are contrary, that explain perhaps what we’re going through and how it was totally predictable, most of it, and maybe avoidable. But I am not going to do that.
“I have chosen not to speak about the economy or the reforms or to even explain anything because if I explain, it would help this government, but I don’t want to help this government,” the emir said while addressing some of the points made by speakers about the economy.
He added: “You know they’re my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I don’t behave like a friend. So I watch them being stooges. And they don’t even have people with credibility who can come and explain what they are doing. I am not going to help. I started out helping, but I am not going to help. I am not going to discuss it. Let them come and explain to Nigerians why the policies that are being pursued are being pursued.
“Meanwhile, I’m watching a very nice movie with popcorn in my hands. But I will say one thing: What we are going through today is, at least in part, not totally, but at least in part, a necessary consequence of decades of irresponsible economic management.
“People were told decades ago that if you continue along this path, this is where you’re going to end up, and they refused to open their eyes. Now, is everything being done today correct? No.”
Emir Sanusi, who was deposed as the 14th Emir of Kano in 2020 by then-Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the current national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was reinstated as the 16th Emir of Kano in 2024 by the New Nigeria People’s Party-led Kano State Government.
His emirship has faced ongoing challenges from forces believed to be backed by the federal government, including federal officials’ continued recognition of his predecessor, Emir Aminu Ado Bayero.
Last month, the police barricaded his palace, with the state government accusing the federal government of orchestrating the action to stir unrest in the peaceful state.
The Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Oriyomi Onanuga, is dead.
Also known as Ijaya, Rt Hon. Onanuga, who was the member representing Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency, is said to have died following a brief illness.
This was confirmed in a tweet on the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday night.
Rt Hon Onanuga, who was born in Hammersmith, London, to Nigerian parents on December 2, 1965, was a politician and entrepreneur. She held the position of Deputy Chief Whip in the Nigerian House of Representatives since 2023.
She contested and won a seat in the House of Representatives under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. She also served as the Chairperson of the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development.
Gov. Aiyedatiwa, however, exempted two members of the cabinet from the dissolution due to the critical nature of their duties.
The two commissioners exempted include the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Kayode Ajulo, SAN, and the Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Omowunmi Isaac.
This was contained in a statement issued by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Mr Adeniyan said in the statement that “All the affected cabinet members are to hand over all government properties in their care to the accounting officers of their respective ministries.
Gov. Aiyedatiwa thanked the executive council members “for their service and contributions to the development of Ondo State under his administration and wished them well in their future endeavours”.
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