The Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday said it never called for tenure elongation for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Public Relations Officer, National Headquarters, Dr Peter Afunanya, reacting to a media report in a statement, said the information is false and fabricated to malign the Service and mislead the populace.
He said: “The attention of the DSS has been drawn to a misleading and mischievous publication by SaharaReporters titled Nigeria’s Secret Police, DSS Tests the Water on Tenure Elongation for Buhari, Tells Journalists, CSOs 2023 Elections May Not Hold.
“Consequently, the DSS disassociates itself from the publication and categorically states that the information is false and obviously fabricated to malign it and mislead the populace.
“It is curious that the session which was applauded and described as innovative by participants including credible Civil Society groups would be misrepresented by the news medium that was neither invited to nor participated in the exercise.
“The Online paper, in its characteristic gutter journalism, had initially claimed that participants at the session were harassed. When the fake news did not garner the expected attention, it resorted to another gimmick aimed at dragging the Service into an unnecessary term elongation debate.
However, the statement by the Presidency reiterating its definite stance to hand over power to a new president on 29th May 2023, has vindicated the Service and countered the deliberate effort by said medium to create confusion Mr Afunanya revealed.
The statement further urges the public to disregard the lies from this medium and its promoter whose activities are usually antithetical to a decorous environment.
Mr. Afunanya called on politicians and highly placed personalities to desist from making unguarded statements capable of derailing efforts to deepen the country’s democracy as well as mobilizing citizens for national unity and stability.
Ime N