Some Nigerians in the social media have continued to knock the appointment of retired Yusuf Magaji Bichi, another Northerner as the Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS by President Muhammadu Buhari.
With the appointment, Bichi will take over from Matthew Seiyefa, a Southerner who was appointed an acting Director-General of DSS after the sack of Lawal Musa Daura from Katsina State by Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the then acting President.
Appointees of Northern extraction under President Buhari include Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, rtd (Kaduna state), Minister of Interior; Ibrahim Magu (Borno state), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman; Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (Borno state), Chief of Army Staff; Ibrahim Idris (Niger state), Inspector-General of Police; Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan Ali, rtd (Zamfara state), Minister of Defence; Abdullahi Muhammadu (Katsina state), Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); and Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, rtd (Bauchi state), Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Others are Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed (Kebbi state), Controller-General of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS); Muhammed Babandede (Jigawa state), Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi (Kwara state), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC); Joseph Anebi (Kogi state), Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service; Alhaji Sani Didi (Kaduna state), Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Bauchi state), Chief of Air Staff, Garba Shehu-President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity
Reno Omokri, a Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan jovially felicitated President Muhammadu Buhari over the appointment.
In his Twitter handle, Omokri wrote ‘’I congratulate President @MBuhari for appointing yet another Northerner. Whoever doubted Buhari’s 97% versus 7% statement can now see the President is dead set on his Northernisation of government policy #RenosDarts#’’
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce from Baylesa State also berated the President over the appointment. ‘’I urge President @MBuhari to remember when he said: “I belong to everybody and belong to nobody”. Do his appointments reflect that statement or do they mock it? How can the President belong to everybody when only Northern Muslim men, like him, head all our intelligence agencies? the Senator noted. Murray-Bruce, in his Twitter handle, reminded the President ‘’Seiyefa was the ONLY Southerner heading an Intelligence agency. He was competent and loyal. In the interest of federal character and North South balance, President @MBuhari should have retained him. Bichi may be competent, but how can all Intelligence be headed by Northerners?’’
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Yusuf Magaji Bichi as the new Director-General of the Department of State Services.
Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, who confirmed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, said the appointment is with immediate effect.
According to him, the appointee is a core Secret Service operative. “The new DSS boss comes to the job with skills in intelligence gathering, research analysis, conflict management, general investigation, risk and vulnerability operations, counter intelligence and protective operation and human resources management.
The new Director-General began his career in the security division of the Cabinet Office in Kano, from where he joined the defunct Nigerian Security Organization, the precursor of the present DSS.
Bichi had undergone training in intelligence processing analysis, agent handling recruitment and intelligence processing in the UK, as well as strategic training at the National Defence College.
Bichi has also served as Director at State Service Academy.
