DSS Invitation: We Respond To Serious People, Not ‘Flash-In-The-Pan politicians’, Presidency Tells Na’Abba

The presidency has responded to the allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari has a hand in the invitation of a former speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The presidency’s response is coming hours before Na’Abba’s scheduled visit to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

The former speaker had announced over the weekend that he had received an invitation from the state security service after he granted an interview to Channels Television, where he revealed plans by the National Consultative Front (NCFront) to bring about a new Nigeria.

The NCFront is a new political movement that was formed by some prominent Nigerians, with Na’Abba and the founder of the Lagos Business School, Professor Pat Utomi, as co-chairmen.

Following the former speaker’s invitation by the DSS, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) had accused the Buhari administration of becoming “more and more intolerant of opposition and criticism”

But responding in a statement late Sunday, the president’s senior media assistant, Garba Shehu, described the attempt to link his principal to Na’Abba’s invitation by the DSS as “a publicity stunt”.

Shehu said, ”Our findings have revealed that Na’Abba’s invitation has nothing to do with his alleged utterances which, in any case, did not catch the attention of the Presidency, or of any serious politician for that matter.

”There are serious politicians who talk and the Presidency responds because such politicians make statements that must get attention.

”Flash-in-the-pan politicians and those who fabricate political relevance don’t bother anyone.

”We advise Na’Abba to distance the presidency from the situation he has found himself and sort himself out accordingly,” he added.

– Buhari Exposing His Lack Of Political Craftsmanship –

Meanwhile, the CNG had said in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, that the Buhari government was exposing its alleged intolerance of opposing views by making continuous attempts to suppress the right of freedom of expression of perceived opponents.

The statement reads: “The CNG finds it worrying that the current administration is becoming more and more intolerant of opposition and criticism and gradually dragging the country towards becoming a police state. We find this attempt to harass Na Abbah, a senior citizen and critical stakeholder in the nation’s democratic process, a brutal encroachment on the universal citizens right to freedom of expression which is a fundamental characteristic of any democratic state.

“By its continuous attempt to suppress the existence of the right to freedom of expression which includes the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by the public authority, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is exposing its failure in sportsmanship, statesmanship and political craftsmanship.

“It is ridiculous that those who run this government who happened to have benefited the most from the previous administration’s tolerant disposition should be the ones denying others the same right they enjoyed. The CNG repudiates this unhealthy, undemocratic trend of government’s exercise of power through security agencies to impose restrictions on citizens’ mobility, or on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views and hold it unacceptable.

“We insist that every Nigerian’s right to freedom of expression which is not only a primary cornerstone of democracy, but also prerequisite for the enjoyment of many of the other rights and freedoms ensured in our constitution and international conventions must be respected. We therefore find it absolutely unacceptable for a people who in no way bore the brunt of the struggle for the return to democracy to be hellbent now on scuttling it.”