PDP Seeks Impeachment As Buhari Sacks SGF, NIA Boss

All Progressives Congress (APC) Stakeholders Meeting, at the State House, Abuja yesterday. PHOTO: PRESIDENCY

• Wants ministers fired over Maina
• Mustapha replaces Babachir Lawal
• APC caucus meets at Presidential Villa

After many months of dillydallying, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday sacked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayo Oke.

Buhari said the decision to sack the duo, who were ‎earlier suspended over allegations of fraud levelled against them, followed his acceptance of the recommendation of the panel to terminate their appointment.

And swiftly, the president announced the appointment of Mr. Boss Mustapha as the new SGF. The appointment takes immediate effect.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, yesterday said the president also approved the setting up of a three-member panel to, among other things, look into the operational, technical and administrative structure of the NIA and make appropriate recommendations. The three-man committee included the National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno, and the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who headed the Presidential Committee which investigated the allegations against Lawal and Oke, had told newsmen that only President Buhari would determine the fate of the duo.

Osinbajo who gave the indication after he submitted the report of the panel in August was, however, silent on the recommendations in the two-volume documents he made available to Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Lawal was grilled by the panel over the N220 million meant for the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North-East while Oke was suspended over the discovery of large amounts of