FORMER Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has explained why the security agency did not arrest the Labour Party (LP) vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, over his recent comment.
Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, April 7, Ejiofor stated that the security agency cannot take any action against the LP vice presidential candidate without concrete evidence.
Baba-Ahmed had, while speaking on the 2023 presidential election during an interview with Channels Television last month, declared that the country has no President-Elect despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcing the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu as the winner of the election.
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The LP vice-presidential candidate said Tinubu would lead an unconstitutional government if sworn into office because the APC candidate “has not met requirements of the law”.
He added that swearing in the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on May 29 may be the end of democracy in Nigeria.
The interview has elicited criticism from political stakeholders, a N5 million fine for the TV station, and a call by Tinubu’s supporters for Baba-Ahmed’s arrest.
Ejiofor, while speaking on Arise Television, noted that “For the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, I listened to his interview, and since it has gone viral, he made a personal statement which he is entitled to,” he said.
“But if he goes ahead, I believe that the SSS, if they have any evidence of pursuing that to its logical conclusion, action will be taken because nobody is above the law.”
Ejiofor also made reference to a similar statement credited to the current vice president in 2015, which was not acted upon by the government.
He believes that the DSS would continue to monitor events as they unfold, and anybody, no matter how highly placed they are, would be brought before the law.
He further stated that the DSS had warned politicians to desist from the issue of the interim government because it is not only unconstitutional but also illegal.
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