A push to curtail the pace of reform being implemented at the State Security Service (SSS) has brought President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, head-to-head with Director-General Matthew Seiyefa.
Kyari was said to have ordered Seiyefa, who was named to the position only last month following the sack of Lawal Daura, to reverse some key decisions he took and desist from implementing new measures unless otherwise directed from the presidency to do so.
Sources in the know says Seiyefa has called Kyari’s bluff saying he would rather report to and take directives from the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, under whose office the SSS is structurally placed.
The rift has become so pronounced that top directors at the SSS and even some rank and file are now threatening to either fight the battle openly with their principal or quit the service entirely — saying political interference has corroded the agency’s professionalism and should no longer be tolerated.
Kyari’s position, contained in a letter he wrote to Seiyefa on August 30, prescribed the types of administrative decisions the new spy chief should not make without permission from him and asks Seiyefa to immediately recall some directors who were recently asked to proceed on terminal leave. State directors in Borno, Cross River, Kaduna and Oyo were cleared for terminal leave by Seiyefa, ahead of their retirement from service.
Other officials who were redeployed are also asked to return to their previous posts, a decision Seiyefa sees as an attempt to undermine his authority, according to people close to him.
Seiyefa was appointed on August 7 by then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, moments after the dismissal of Daura, who was accused of ordering the August 7 siege which SSS operatives laid to the National Assembly, drawing nationwide condemnation amongst those who saw it as an affront to democracy.
Seiyefa assumed office promising to clean up the mess at the agency, which many expect would involve doing away with the controversial tactics of Daura.
It’s not immediately clear why Kyari is becoming increasingly suspicious of Seiyefa’s actions at the SSS, but officials at the secret police allege it was an attempt to bring back Daura or someone else the administration felt would be amenable to its interest ahead of the 2019 elections.
Osinbajo took the decision when he was acting president while Mr Buhari was in London on vacation for 10 business days. Seiyefa was the most senior official when he was appointed last month, and is expected to retire next year because he joined the agency in 1984.
* Reports from Premium Tines