by Umar Sa’ad Hassan
Sadly, Most Nigerians weren’t in high spirits in the few days leading to one of the most historic events since Independence-May 29th 2015.We were witnessing what was perhaps the worst fuel scarcity ever in our history.
I dashed to a bank on May 27th to make a transaction after a lot of them announced they would be closing at 1pm (effective next day) till things got better and met a full hall. I got into a conversation with a man I was in line with and he said something I found quite intriguing. He felt the ‘hardship’ was a ploy to lure the military into staging a coup. If the banks and telecommunication companies shut down, the Jonathan Government would have an excuse to postpone its handover date which will then instigate the military into staging a Coup. It sounded plausible but the most part of me didn’t think it true.
The DSS raid on the Immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki’s residence in Abuja, his father’s in Sokoto and the ensuing Statement made me have a rethink. Perhaps the man was right .Maybe there was an evil plan that subsisted till that point.
The PDP’s statements refuting claims by the Buhari administration that we are heavily in debt only lends credence to the whole theory. First they said the Goodluck Jonathan administration left $30 Billion in our treasury and more recently, the one questioning the source of the President’s Bailout to States having problems paying salaries to the tune of 413 Billion Naira if indeed our treasury was empty.
If that is true, then perhaps there are dots to be connected.
It means the GEJ Government had the money to pay the N200 Billion debt owed the fuel marketers but held back for no obvious genuine reason. From the little I know of how these things work, even a half payment could sway them into resuming operations, Bear in mind a compromise was later reached without any official notification of money changing hands shortly after the then President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari met with them. President GEJ never seemed to be bothered. He remained mute in a most trying time and if that wasn’t enough to warrant an explanation, then the untold hardship borne by Civil Servants in some states who were being owed several months salaries to complement it definitely was.
The inauguration did hold and the DSS said it placed Sambo Dasuki under surveillance right after and whether or not the full list of items recovered where the ones disclosed, the ones made public are quite disturbing. Sophisticated bullet proof jeeps capable of gaining entrance anywhere without arousing much suspicion to just the required number of high calibre weapons to arm the ‘hitters’ in any plot to topple the government or cause any chaos capable of leading to such. Dasuki is a fine soldier who quite incidentally happens to be an In-law of one of the most respected Ex-intelligence officers in the land, Gen.Aliyu Gusau who himself, served under GEJ as Minister of Defence.
The way President Buhari approached security issues after being sworn-in oozed of wariness and its now clear why. Reports surfaced at some point revealing he wanted the entire Presidential Villa swept and ridded of hidden cameras and bugs which were said to have been planted by an Israeli Company contracted by the DSS on behalf of the previous administration and not because he wanted it renovated as we were meant to believe. He recalled a towns man of his from retirement and installed him as Boss of the DSS in a move suggesting just how distrustful he was of elements in our Security Structure. Only then were the Service Chiefs relieved of their posts in a long anticipated move.
If a trial of whatever kind is held, we would know more as the Dasukis have questioned the lawfulness of their detention which in my opinion couldn’t be more lawful. Search Warrants were presented and it is noteworthy that most Secret Police worldwide have virtually unfettered power under the ‘National Security’ clause and the act of the DSS is fully covered by Section 35 Sub-sections:
B (disobedience of an order imposed by law) and
C (the ‘Upon Reasonable Suspicion’ provision) in the 1999 Constitution as Amended.
It would take a lot to sponsor a coup or any treasonable act of similar proportions at this stage of Democratic rule and the alleged withdrawals made by the Ex-NSA from his official CBN Account further added fuel to the fires of suspicions.
The amount of money Dasuki alleged was taken away by his PA’s driver($5 Million) is just the type of money I am talking about.
Yes, Sambo Dasuki’s was detained for about a day in his residence and No, it wasn’t for suspicion of having any ties to Boko Haram, it was one for committing treasonable felony. The dots add up real nice even though Things aren’t always what they seem. We will soon find out more.
Umar Sa’ad Hassan is a lawyer based in Kano.
