Buhari's Daura kinsmen want him to sack Magu and Monguno for their role in the dismissal of former DSS boss

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure from his kinsmen loyal to the former head of the Department of State Security (DSS) Lawal Daura to sack his national security adviser General Babagana Monguno and the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu.

Earlier this month, while President Buhari was off on holiday, acting president Professor Osinbajo dismissed Mr Daura after he got men of the DSS to invade the National Assembly and since his sacking, he has been placed under house arrest and is being investigated for corruption too. Professor Osinbajo then asked Mr Magu, to probe funds given to the DSS, which Mr Daura refused to give account for.

However, President Buhari has since returned and resumed office and his kinsmen from Daura want him to wield the sword by making Mr Magu and General Monguno pay for the sacking of their son. Apparently, the loyalists, including some members of the president’s kitchen cabinet backed by at least one governor from the southwest, have already made a representation to as to why the duo must go.

In their view, the sacked DSS boss was a victim of a palace coup, who was sacrificed for the survival of General Munguno, Mr Magu and a few other security chiefs. They said the president must now proceed to overhaul the nation’s security architecture, sparing neither Monguno nor Magu.

However, some other members of the cabinet are said to be kicking against any fresh plot to tie the fate of the two men to Mr Daura’s travails, claiming that the duo had no hand whatsoever in the sacking of Mr Daura. One source said that the EFCC steered clear of the de-briefing and interrogation of Mr Daura by other security agencies to avoid being accused of bias or retaliation.

Two letters to the Senate from the DSS under Mr Daura were largely responsible for the decision of the upper chamber of the National Assembly to deny Mr Magu confirmation as substantive EFCC chairman. One well-placed source familiar with the development said the ripples over Mr Daura’s removal have not abated.

He added: “Those loyal and sympathetic to the ex-director general of the DSS are up in arms by mounting pressure on the president to overhaul the nation’s security and anti-corruption architecture. They specifically demanded the sack of the national security adviser and Magu too, alleging that the ex-DSS director-general was sacrificed in the absence of the president to ease him out of the equation in the presidency.

“They also alleged that the removal of Daura was timed to achieve a purpose for the national security adviser and the EFCC boss. Some of these forces even added spiritual connotations to the sack of Daura, they said some marabouts did the job on behalf of some key figures around the president."

He added that it is unfortunate that a governor from the southwest, who has links with a few corrupt ones, has been vehement in the sack of Magu. Furthermore, the source said some of the lobbyists and influential people from the northwest are alleged to be getting tired of the northeast elements around President Buhari and are asking him to remove a few of these northeastern hands including Monguno and Magu.