President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo agreed to review the appointment of Mr. Lawal Daura as Director-General, Department of State Security Service (DSS), barely two weeks to the commencement of the president’s 10-day vacation, according to fresh information yesterday.
But the plan was nearly aborted by some influential backers until the two leaders stood their ground, The Nation gathered authoritatively yesterday.
Besides, presidential villa sources said that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, there are no cracks in the relationship between Buhari and Osinbajo.
It is understood that the duo took “big decisions together in the past two weeks.”
Osinbajo fired Daura on August 7 following the blockade of the National Assembly by DSS operatives.
The Vice President said Daura took the action without authority from the Presidency.
That happened three days after the President left for London on vacation.
Buhari returned to Abuja yesterday at the expiration of his vacation and sources told The Nation that he will decide the fate of the former DSS DG.
Giving a rare insight yesterday into how the President and the Vice President function, a Presidential Villa source said: “Less than two weeks before the president departed for the UK on vacation there was a decision already reached to replace the former Director-General of the DSS who was later fired by the Acting President.
“The decision however did not see the light of day when some influential backers of the sacked DG rallied together to frustrate the plan.
“But unknown to many of the backers both the President and his deputy have always discussed the need to review the appointments of some of the security chiefs including the sacked DG.”
Another source said there has been no crack in the presidency contrary to insinuations in some quarters.
“The President and VP have closely been aligned all along including in the past two weeks that the Vice President governed in acting capacity,” the source said.
“Although the President was on vacation he and the VP were in contact by phone to discuss important state issues and compare notes.
“In all their interactions, the President always encouraged the VP to do the needful and take charge effectively.
“It is really pointless to try to attribute some of these decisions in a manner that suggests that may be the President would not have taken them or that it was just one arm of the presidency responsible for them.
“The President and his deputy are far much closer than any other set of leaders the country has produced at least since 1999, if not even beyond.”
“It is therefore mischievous for some people to be comparing the two leaders. Truth is that the President and his VP act in concert and credit ought to be given to the President who has ensured over and again that the VP is certainly a major power broker in the presidency.
“There is hardly a move the VP would make without first securing the blessing of the President and both of these gentlemen have developed mutual trust and confidence in each other and this is beneficial for the country.”
On the overhaul of the SARS, a third source said the Vice President did not act unilaterally either.
The source added: “the matter had featured prominently in regular interactions of both the President and the VP and also interactions by both of them with the Inspector-General of Police.
“In a similar vein, the decision of the National Economic Council to set up a committee to work with the Inspector-General of Police and find ways to decentralize police operations is a reflection of discussions and plans that both the President and the Vice President have gone over a number of times previously.”