The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused
the Department of State Services
(DSS) of crass partisanship and unprofessional conduct over its actions and comments on the
recent election in Osun State.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by
its National Publicity Secretary,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also said the spokesperson for the agency, Ms. Marilyn Ogar,
should be properly trained and given the
necessary exposure so she can speak with knowledge and facts, instead of making baseless and
incautious statements.
''It is sad that a spokesperson for the DSS does
not know there is no offence
called 'loitering' under Nigerian laws. For her to now go on national television to say the APC's
National Publicity Secretary was arrested
for 'loitering' in Osogbo on the eve of the state's governorship election is the height of
ignorance and constitutes a great
embarrassment to DSS.
''It is even worse that the so-called
spokesperson, ever so glib, would
make a joke out of such a faux pas by an agency that is supposed to be non-partisan and highly
professionalized. How on earth can any human
being not be disoriented when 15 hooded gunmen arrest him/her and point
their weapons at his/her head as
they did to me on that night in Osogbo?
''How can a spokesperson for such a sensitive
government agency not understand
that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for freedom of movement? On
what basis is Ms. Ogar questioning
what the APC's National Publicity Secretary was doing in Osun, when the same fellow has not
questioned the presence of Musiliu Obanikoro,
Chris Uba and the likes in the same state or are those people from Osun State?
APC said by spearheading the mass arrest of its
leaders and members in Osun before and during the Aug. 9th governorship
election in the state, and by
preventing the rally planned by the NLC in support of Gov. Aregbesola from holding, the DSS
has decided to pitch its tent with
the PDP instead of staying neutral.
It described as a tissue of lies the allegation
by Ms. Ogar that the party tried
to bribe the DSS with 14 million Naira before the Osun election, wondering why
the DSS did not arrest the official who offered
the alleged bribe.
''Apparently, Ms. Ogar has never head of a
'sting operation' that is widely
used by security agencies to catch a person who is committing a crime. The allegation by Ms. Ogar
would have been sweet in her mouth had
the DSS mounted a sting operation to catch whoever was offering the alleged bribe, and then prosecute
him or her,'' the party said, calling
the allegation cheap blackmail by a conspiratorial
organization.
APC said it is important to educate the likes of
Ogar, and indeed the entire DSS,
that election is not war, but a celebration of democracy, hence DSS agents should drop their
hoods and hide away their menacing guns
when next they are posted to police an election anywhere in the country.
