Former Speaker Ghali Na’Abba has opened up on his meeting with the Department of State Services (DSS), saying he was not invited because of his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Na’Abba said he was questioned by the DSS for over two hours, saying that he was invited based on misunderstanding of the words he used in the media last week.
The former speaker had described the country as a failed state and said Nigerians have a right to self- determination.
He said he was questioned for over two hours and that he still stood by what he said.
“I did not disown anything I said. I will never mince my words. Whatever I see as the truth I say it. And that is what I said in my interview and said during the press conference. And I can never say anything that is not the truth.
“What happened was there were certain words that appeared in my address and interview which needed some clarifications and which clarification, I made.
“We were both satisfied with what happened. We advised one another. The DSS have their own job and their own experience. I too have my own vocation also have my own experience. And we felt highly enriched by our experiences.
“That is how things are supposed to be. It went successfully. I enjoyed my stay there. I had no problems with the way they received me,” he said.
Na’Abba said in his address he used the words ‘failed state’ and ‘self determination,’ which was what the DSS sought clarification.
“Self- determination simply in our own context means Nigerians must be allowed to live the way they want to live.
“It does not mean the mean dismemberment of the country. A lot of times from security point of view when you say self- determination it is meant that it is the dismemberment of the country, which is not so. This needed clarification.
“Failed state is any state that cannot provide a lot of services. What happened was that in their own opinion I did not use the words appropriately and it is only human to use words not appropriately and I told them that what I meant there is that the indices that characterised a failed state are prevalent with us,” he said in a report by The Nation.
