ADC’s Kola Ologbondiyan Defends Atiku’s DSS Allegation, Questions Agency Director’s Role in APC Campaign Council

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, has defended former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s allegation that the leadership of the Department of State Services (DSS) was recruiting people to stage protests in Sokoto State. He also questioned the alleged involvement of a DSS director in the security and intelligence structure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council.

During an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Ologbondiyan said Atiku’s experience in government and knowledge of public affairs gave him reason to believe that the former vice president would not make such an allegation without supporting information.

“With his experience and knowledge of government, Atiku Abubakar would not just go out and make an allegation,” Ologbondiyan said while responding to questions about the claims Atiku had made concerning the political situation in Sokoto.

He added that he believed the former vice president had information supporting his statement, saying, “I believe strongly that he has a fact for that allegation.”

Ologbondiyan, however, noted that he respected the DSS Director-General and acknowledged his work in leading the agency.

The ADC spokesman then questioned whether the DSS Director-General was aware of the alleged involvement of a serving director in his organisation in the APC campaign structure.

He asked, “Is the DSS DG aware that a director in his organisation is the deputy director of security and intelligence in the APC campaign?”

He subsequently urged the agency’s leadership to examine the matter internally, adding, “He should also look inwards.”

When asked whether DSS operatives were working with ADC candidates, Ologbondiyan clarified that there was no DSS operative listed as a member of the party’s campaign structure.

“There is no DSS operative serving on our ADC campaign membership list,” he said, urging people to check the party’s campaign membership records.

He explained that the presence of security personnel assigned to protect political candidates should not be confused with an operative becoming a member of a political campaign council.

According to him, security officers may be deployed to monitor and protect candidates, but that responsibility is different from participating in a party’s political activities.

“A DSS operative who is expected to keep watch over our candidates is different from one who becomes a member of a campaign council,” Ologbondiyan said.

He argued that an operative who becomes part of a political campaign council could be perceived as partisan because of the political role attached to that membership.

The ADC spokesman further alleged that a director of the security agency had been publicly listed as a co-director in the APC campaign council’s Security and Intelligence Directorate.

He said the name had appeared in media reports and challenged the DSS leadership to examine the information.

“A director of the agency is published in the media as a co-director in the APC campaign council’s Security and Intelligence Directorate,” Ologbondiyan said.

He added, “Go and check the list; you can get the list and look at it,” while insisting that the agency should pay attention to the alleged political involvement of its personnel.

Ologbondiyan maintained that the ADC did not have any DSS operative or director serving as a member of its campaign council.

His comments came amid Atiku’s allegations concerning the planned protests in Sokoto, while the claims about the alleged DSS director’s role in the APC campaign structure remained assertions made by the ADC spokesman during the interview.

Watch the video from 03:11 to 05:30.