I was shocked to hear Daura acted on his own – Sagay

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) on Tuesday said he was shocked to hear that Lawal Daura, the sacked Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS) acted on his own by barricading the National Assembly without authorisation from the Presidency.

Sagay, who said Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo had no choice than to fire the ex-DSS boss, added that there was no way the government could defend or justify Daura’s actions since it didn’t order him to carry out the invasion.

Speaking in a chat with Daily Independent, he said: “When I started hearing about the invasion, I was wondering whether the sacked DSS boss has authority to do that because I couldn’t imagine him doing that without being authorised by the presidency.

“Later, when it emerged that he was doing it without authority, I was aghast and very shocked. So, it is a very major step. It is not that it cannot be done but there are circumstances where it may become necessary but if that is to be done, such order must come from the Presidency, not the man doing it on his own because we are talking of one arm of government.

“So, I was very shocked and honestly, given the gravity of what has happened, the Acting President had no choice than sacking him because it can bring down the name of the government.”