Jackson Ude’s allegation of fraud against Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, is false, says the Coalition for Peace in Nigeria, COPIN.
Ude, a controversial blogger had published a report alleging that the DSS boss siphoned subsidy funds allocated to the staff of the agency by the federal government.
The spokesman for the DSS has denied the allegation in a statement made available to the media.
The Civil society group made this known in a statement on Wednesday, saying its investigations proved that Ude lied against the DSS boss.
The group called on security agencies in the country to invite Ude for questioning, to substantiate his claim, failure to do so, COPIN stated he must be prosecuted “to serve as deterrence to mess-of-pottage activists.”
The statement signed in Abuja by COPIN National Coordinator, Pharmacist Emeka Akwuobi, said Bichi has been on its radar since his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, stressing that nothing incriminating has been found against him.
According to COPIN, “Our regular evaluation reports of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in relation to performance have continued to put the Department of State Services (DSS) at the top of the radar.
“In his latest outing, our team found that Jackson Ude accused DG Bichi of alleged looting of grants meant for staff of the service.
“Upon seeing his post on X, we commissioned our crack team to unravel the truth or otherwise of the allegation of impropriety against the leadership of the foremost domestic intelligence agency.
“Our findings will shock members of the public: no subsidy grants, in whatever description, have been released for personnel of the Department of State Services.
“The question we pose to Use and his paymasters is: can you loot what you do not have?
“Nigerians should, please, identify and shame the likes of Ude, who seek to pull down hard-working and patriotic leaders whose only disposition is to make Nigeria greater than she is currently.
“We, therefore, call on relevant security agencies to, as a matter of national security, invite Ude to substantiate his allegation against DG Bichi, failure of which he should be prosecuted, to serve as deterrence to mess-of-pottage activists.”
