While the President currently operates from Defence
House, the official residence of the President-elect,
Osinbajo is said to be residing in a private
residence. Ahead of their relocation, however, we learnt that
there is currently an ongoing inter-agency row on
who will be in charge of the President’s security. More prominent, it was learnt, is the cold war
between the Nigerian Army and the Department of
State Services. A Presidency source who pleaded anonymity
because of the sensitive nature of the issue told our
correspondent that one of the close aides of the
President who is a retired military officer had
written to the Nigerian Army, the DSS and the
Nigeria Police to send a particular number of their men to be saddled with the responsibility of
securing the State House. He said the head of one of the security agencies
had refused to take action on the directive because
the author of the letter had not been given any
formal responsibility by the President. The official added that trouble started over the
weekend when some officials of the Nigerian Army
Intelligence Corps were driven into the State House
with the instruction that they be deployed in
strategic positions, including the President’s office
and residence. He added that the DSS officials on duty at the time
denied them access into the State House until when
a directive came that they should be allowed in. The officials of NAIC were said to have taken over
from the DSS officials. The official said, “The NAIC officials were first driven
into the Villa in a Coastal bus on Saturday, but they
were turned back by officials of the DSS. “After a series of meetings, we were later told that
we should allow them in. So they came in on
Sunday while some others joined them on Monday. “Naturally, it is DSS officials that are always in charge
of the President’s inner security. But with this
development, it seems they want to change the
tradition and use the NAIC guys. “The talk among operatives is that the development
might be political considering the roles the DSS
played in the build up to the 2015 general
elections.” Another source told our correspondent that DSS
officials attached to the State House are also
currently at loggerheads with officials of a private
security outfit. The security outfit is said to be owned by a retired
DSS official who is also close to the President. Security guards from the firm were said to have
been working with Buhari long before he became
the President. The source told our correspondent on Monday that
shortly after DSS officials arrived at the National
Mosque, Abuja on Friday to cordon off the place
ahead of Buhari’s arrival for the Jumat service,
about 30 officials of the security firm also arrived. They were said to have claimed that they were
under instructions to take possession of the
mosque’s premises, a step that was resisted by the
DSS officials who insisted that the responsibility to
secure the place for the Commander-in-Chief was
solely theirs. “After a lot of arguments, the officials of the security
outfit agreed to leave the premises for the DSS
officials as they were asked to go and stand outside
the premises. “That was the second time that the scenario played
out in the mosque. On May 29 shortly after the
President’s inauguration, that was the same way
men of that firm showed up at the same mosque
where the C-in-C worshipped,” the source added.

CC:Lalasticlala , seun

..

Useless fight. Buhari might even decide never to use the Vila.

huh