Na’Abba: Why DSS invited me

Ghali Na’Abba, a former speaker of the house of representatives, says he was invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) to clarify a few remarks he made.

The former speaker visited the DSS headquarters in Abuja on Monday afternoon.

The secret police invited Na’Abba four days after he made comments criticising the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

In a television broadcast, Na’Abba, a co-chairman of the newly formed National Consultative Front (NCFront), said Nigeria is now a failed state.

Addressing reporters after the visit, Na’Abba said the security agency invited him to clarify the intention behind his use of “failed state” and “self-determination”.

The ex-lawmaker said he was well received by the DSS, adding that he enjoyed his visit.

“I did not disown anything I said. I will never mince my words. Whatever I see as the truth, I say it. And that is what I said in my interview and said during the press conference. And I can never say anything that is not the truth,” he said.

“What happened was there were certain words that appeared in my address and interview which needed some clarifications, and which clarification I made.

“We were both satisfied with what happened. We advised one another. The DSS have their own job and their own experience. I too have my own vocation also have my own experience. And we felt highly enriched by our experiences.

“That is how things are supposed to be. It went successfully. I enjoyed my stay there. I had no problems with the way they received me.

“In my address, I used the words ‘failed state’ and ‘self determination’. When we say out words, what we mean may be different from what other persons perceive and that was what happened.

“Self-determination simply, in our own context, means Nigerians must be allowed to live the way they want to live.

“It does not mean the dismemberment of the country. A lot of times, from security point of view, when you say self-determination, it is meant that it is the dismemberment of the country, which is not so. This needed clarification.

“Failed state is any state that cannot provide a lot of services. What happened was that in their own opinion, I did not use the words appropriately and it is only human to use words not appropriately and I told them that what I meant there is that the indices that characterise a failed state are prevalent with us.”

Many had attributed Na’Abba’s invitation to the position of the Coalition of Northern Groups which accused the Buhari administration of being intolerant of criticism.

But Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, had said the presidency has nothing to do with Na’Abba’s invitation by the DSS.