The Department of State Services has refuted claims that Senator Abdulaziz Yari’s arrest was a result of his refusal to answer a phone call from President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement released on Sunday, Dr. Peter Afunanya, the spokesperson for the Department of State Services , made an official announcement.
The assertion, as articulated on the official Twitter account of the Department of State Services (DSS), was characterised as both frivolous and insignificant.
In the official statement, Afunanya confirmed that Yari had indeed received an invitation from the Department of State Services Afunanya further stated that the senator possessed knowledge regarding the purpose for which he was invited.
He also disputed allegations that the Service was spying on Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judges.
Afunanya also rejected accusations that the Service attacked the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau, stealing files.
He refuted accusations that the DSS is in turmoil owing to nepotism.
He stated that the Service would not have replied to the errors if it had not been for the “fickle-minded and vulnerable persons as well as the unsuspecting public” who would take the lies for facts.
Afunanya in the statement, said, “The attention of the Department of State Services has been drawn to false reports by sections of the online media particularly SaharaReporters, Peoples Gazette, and Jackson Ude.
“The so-called news platforms variously and wrongly fed the public with misleading narratives and accusations against the Service.
“For instance, SaharaReporters wrote that the Service stormed the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and carted away certain files from them.
“Jackson Ude falsely claimed that there is a rumble in the DSS due to nepotism. He further accused the Service was snooping on Judges on the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“On its part, Peoples Gazette reported that Senator Abdulaziz Yari was arrested for alleged refusal to pick up the President’s phone call (whatever that meant).
“There are other variants of unsubstantiated and anonymous petitions flying around against the DGSS, his family, and some officials.
“To set the record straight, the DSS did not execute operations at the ICPC and CCB or remove files from their offices.
“Instructively, the two agencies have, on their own, refuted the news in widely circulated press statements. It is petty, if not laughable, to report that Yari was invited for refusing to pick up the President’s call. This is the height of junk journalism. Yari knows why he was invited.
“In fact, the Service denies all the allegations as they lack any factual basis or credibility. They are only figments of the creators’ imaginations.
“This is more so that the publishers in question have been noted in and outside the country for their notoriety for peddling fake news, sensational and gutter journalism. Without a modicum of proper and civilised behaviour, they indulge in character assassinations and sundry blackmail as a business,” the statement added.
