Lawal Daura, the former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), has officially declared his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election in Katsina State.
In an interview with DCL Hausa on Tuesday, monitored by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Daura revealed his plan to challenge Governor Dikko Radda’s re-election bid.
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He cited the governor’s alleged “poor handling” of the security challenges currently plaguing the state as the primary reason for his candidacy.
Mr Daura slammed what he described as the “politicisation” of insecurity and the “double standards” applied to the fight against insecurity in Nigeria, particularly the fight against banditry in his native Katsina State.
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“You cannot be a governor and go to the battlefront to show you are fighting insecurity. That is not the work of a governor because he is not trained to do so,” Mr Daura stated this after the interviewer spotlighted the governor demonstrating his commitment to addressing insecurity by going to the battle front.
“For a governor to go to a battlefront, this is the politicisation of insecurity and a recipe for failure”, Mr Daura said.
He also criticised the state’s approach to peace dialogues with the bandits, alleging that while the governor publicly refuses to negotiate with bandits, he said local government authorities were doing so on his behalf.
“The dialogue initiative has failed because the bandits are dispersed and unorganised,” he claimed.
When asked about the governor’s progress in road construction, water provision and other development initiatives, Mr Daura was dismissive. “If security fails, you cannot claim success in other sectors,” he argued.
“The current governor is not capable. It is like putting a load on someone and adjusting it; if they complain the load is too heavy, you have to take it down to avoid destroying fragile items.
“The people of Katsina will say ‘thank you for your efforts,’ but you should take a break because you cannot continue”, he said while dismissing the second term chances of Governor Radda.
Mr Daura said he never previously saw himself as a politician, despite having vast experience in politics, beginning from the Shehu Shagari administration, having preferred to participate in politics from the background. However, he claimed a group of Katsina elders urged him to join the race to “save the state.”
He stated that he has finalised consultations regarding his political platform and will announce his chosen party shortly.
Efforts to reach Ibrahim Kaula, the spokesperson for Governor Radda, to respond to Mr Daura’s claims were unsuccessful as his phone line remained unreachable on Tuesday night.
Mr Daura re-emerged in the political spotlight after about six years after his controversial exit from public service.
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In July 2015, shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari took office, Mr Daura was appointed as the Director-General of the State Security Service. His appointment was initially seen as a move to stabilise the nation’s internal security architecture under the new administration.
In this interview, he stated that during his three years in office, the country had seen improvement in security until his removal from office in 2018.
Mr Daura’s tenure came to an abrupt and dramatic end on 7 August, 2018. While President Buhari was away on vacation in London, masked SSS operatives blocked the entrance to the National Assembly, preventing lawmakers and staff from entering the building.
The “siege” was widely condemned as an assault on democracy. In a swift response, the then-Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the immediate dismissal of Mr Daura.
But in the interview, Mr Daura said he acted that way in the best interests of the nation’s security.
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