The Chief Media Consultant to the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), Yushau Shuaib, has resigned his appointment after three years in the post.
While in that position, Mr. Shuaib, a retired civil servant, served as intermediary between major security/response agencies and the media in Nigeria.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. Shuaib said he was engaged by a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to serve as media consultant to military, security, intelligence and response organisations under a unified platform.
He said he also had as his core mandate the responsibility of positioning the agencies for desired public perception and changing the negative narratives regarding the war against terror.
In his notice of resignation served on the Chairman of the forum and Director of Defence Information, Rabe Abubakar, a brigadier general, Mr. Shuaib said he could no longer continue to serve FOSSRA which is under the auspices of the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) because of what he called “misleading report by the presidential committee under the same ONSA”.
He accused the committee of “unjustly accusing almost all institutions and individuals that served the office without fair hearing”.
Mr. Shuaib said, “The retired AVM Jon Ode-Presidential Panel under ONSA is merely criminalizing critical institutions and indicting groups and individuals in the media without being arraigned in the court of law where the accused could prove their innocence”.
He queried the rationale behind empowering a Panel on Procurement of Arms that is composed of retired and serving military officers to also probe contracts and services that have nothing to do with arms and ammunition.
The media consultant said “while the Jon Ode led-Panel deliberately refuses to acknowledge successes recorded by previous administration in the war on terror, the team has only succeeded in misleading the president with its biased reports that create unnecessary anxiety in the polity”.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of those whose stock in trade is to blackmail and destroy others apparently as a way and means of venting their anger over their past frustrations or exerting revenge against their perceived enemies or rivalries while in the service.
“I wonder if President Buhari was able to conduct comprehensive background checks on some members of the panel before their appointment. A mere google check would have provided him a glimpse on the character and ethical capital of some of these individuals who may likely be showing frustrations occasioned by stagnation in posting, arraignment before court martial for indiscipline and fund misappropriation while in service apart from those that might have served as aides to controversial figures”, he said.
Mr. Shuaib, who was defending a PR agency, Image Merchants, that has worked for security agencies since 2013 with over 20 staff on its monthly payroll said: “It is mere mischief for the Jon Ode-panel to indict an umbrella strategic communication outfit that was not involved in partisan politics but provided proofs of its assignment and paid the full taxes demanded by the panel only for the same panel to turn around and claim nothing was done just few days after an article we published exposing the lies being orchestrated that no weapons were bought by the previous administration for the prosecution of war on terror.
“The panel were even arguing with us on some contents of the published article forgetting that while most of them were on retirement we risk our live by engaging top serving military officers on various security issues and on the field which we disseminate through the media to the public.
“They seemed to be aggrieved with the disclosure in the article that the previous administration bought sophisticated weapons for the military, which included: Alpha jets, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) APCs, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, advan
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