Vacate EFCC’s Office Now – Tinubu Orders DSS

BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – Amid the rofo-rofo fight between the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the nation’s secret Police to immediately vacate the Commission office in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Early on Tuesday morning, the anti-graft agency’s officials were denied access to the Ikoyi office, courtesy of gun-wielding DSS personnel who stormed the area to block entrance into the property with gunshots also heard around the vicinity.

However, worried by the altercations between both organisations, a statement by President Tinubu’s media aide Tunde Rahman, directed the DSS to quit the premises with immediate effect.

The terse statement read in part; “The President said if there were issues between the two important agencies of government, they would be resolved amicably”.

Claiming ownership of the contentious building, the Secret Police however said in a statement thus; “It is not correct that the DSS barricaded EFCC from entering its office. No. It is not true.

“The Service is only occupying its own facility where it is carrying out its official and statutory responsibility.”

It was gathered that the DSS personnel arrived in Lagos on Monday and parked on the road leading to the anti-graft Commission’s office

Insiders explained that despite the usual activities, the EFCC staff still went about their daily responsibilities peacefully with the assumption that operatives of their sister agency only came around as part of measures to maintain peace in the former federal capital in view on the May 29 inauguration of a new administration in the country.

But at the close of work, the DSS officials effectively moved in and occupied the premises, preventing their EFCC counterparts from gaining access when work resumed on Tuesday.

However, dismissing insinuations of any contestation between both agencies, the DSS Spokesperson, Peter Afunanya volunteered thus; “There is no rivalry between the Service and the EFCC over and about anything. Please do not create any imaginary ones.

“They are great partners working for the good of the nation. Dismiss any falsehood of a fight.”

In its reaction, the anti-graft agency described the development as strange, noting that both agencies have cohabited in the facility for about two decades now without any stress on their relationship. 

According to EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwajuren; “By denying operatives access to their offices, the Commission’s operations at its largest hub with over 500 personnel, hundreds of exhibits, and many suspects in detention have been disrupted.

“All of these have wider implications for the nation’s fight against economic and financial crimes.

“The siege is inconsistent with the synergy expected of agencies working for the same government and nation, especially when there are ongoing discussions on the matter.”