A fresh attempt to exonerate the former DG of the National Intelligence Agency, Mr Ay Oke is in the offing, reliable insiders told Newsdiaryonline. He may be absolved by a secret Presidential Panel already at work at the NIA.
An insider disclosed that “so far, from its deliberations on the Ikoyigate,plans are underway by the Review Panel to absolve Ayo Oke from any wrong doing by claiming that both the money and the apartment in question belong to the Agency.”
Though Oke has been suspended from Office, it was learnt that he has continued to enjoy protection from a few influential person close to the seat of power.
An insider said some recent developments point to the direction the president’s sack of Oke may have been rendered ineffective as he is seen hobnobbing with those who have taken over the running of NIA.
The story of Oke’s return to power through the backdoor reads like a scene out of a mafia drama. Recently Newsdiaryonline reported that a secret appointment had been made of a new DG of NIA. Even more, the report hinted at the attempt to undermine the new DG as plan was afoot to set up a committee that would take charge of the administration of the NIA.The DG according to the earlier report would focus on operational matters.The report may have foretold an unfolding tide of rocking the agency.
Some knowledgeable insider gave Newsdiaryonline some insight into the power game going on at the agency thus:“The Ikoyigate scandal led to the suspension and subsequent termination of the appointment of Ambassador Ayo Oke as Director General and heralded the appointment of a five-man Panel to review the Operations, Administrative and Technical Functions f the Agency, a source confirmed.
“No light seems to appear at the end of the tunnel.The Panel had for several days delayed the take over of the affairs of the Agency by the newly appointed Ag.Director General and had influenced the content of the letter of the latter’s appointment which directed him to take over (from ) the dismissed Director General instead of Ambassador Yadam who was acting since April 2017.
And quite like what has been predicted earlier, a source disclosed that “The panel has limited the functions of the DG NIA to operational matters only.It has also stripped that Office of the National Security Adviser of (ONSA) of its supervision /coordinating role over the agency.
“Furthermore, the panel is poised to clear Ayo Oke from any wrongdoing in the Ikoyigate after arranging for his disappearance from EFCC radar and now shielding him from Commission at the Command House.”
An insider’s account of how the panel has been operating leaves sour taste in the mouth. He said: “The announcement of a (review) Panel initially heralded a sigh of relief to staff of the Agency.
“However membership of the five man Panel casts aspersions on its impartiality. Impartiality is unlikely because most members are active participants in the status quo in the Agency.
“So far the Panel’s proceeding seemed to have usurped the powers of the newly appointed Ag Director General as it has constrained him from effective discharge of his duties, thus compromising the principle of compartmentalization in intelligence parlance.
“The panel has warned him to restrict his duties to operational functions only and if he dares devolves into Administrative and Technical Aspect, he would not survive the six-month acting period.
But the extent to which the Panel is ready to go in order to protect Oke was said to have unfurled recently as the Panel ensured that the ex DG was not apprehended by operatives of EFCC.
According to an insider a dramatic incident to that effect occurred during the handing over ceremony. ”The handover ceremony was supposed to be on the 5th November 2017 because Oke wanted it done secretly in order to evade EFCC operatives who were on surveillance of the Command House in the Commission’s efforts to question him.
However, the Secretary of the Panel visited the House and drove Oke to the Agency’s premises ,stating that it was at the instance of(a top shot from the presidency). EFCC operatives followed them to the Agency, requesting the Panel to, after the handover ceremony to take Oke for questioning.
“However,the chairman of the panel later came and dispersed EFCC operatives from the agency,” it was learnt.
For Oke’s supporters, the review panel presents a ray of hope .”We hope he will be exonerated.That is what we are looking forward to.I know Oke is a very thorough person who follows instructions.The Panel won’t find anything against him” a source close to the ex NIA DG told Newsdiaryonline.
The source added, ”If you know him, he (Oke) is very religious about his things”
But those who say they want justice and fairness and normalcy to prevail at the agency are said to be very worried about the state of affairs.
Newsdiaryobline was told that those who want positive change in the agency are calling on President Buhari to reconstitute the membership of the Review Panel and allow the acting DG to perform his duties in full.They are suggesting that the new Review Panel should be headed by a retired Chief Justice or a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Whether the president will act to assuage the concerns of those watching the alleged slide of the agency remains to be seen.
Oke was suspended following the discovery of foreign currency worth several billions of Naira at an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.He was later removed from office the same day ex SGF Babachir Lawal was sacked.
