Dennis Amachree, a retired assistant director of the Department of State Services (DSS), says the appointment of Isa Pantami as minister of communications and digital economy by former President Muhammadu Buhari raised national security concerns and exposed weaknesses in Nigeria’s security vetting process.
Amachree made the assertion in ‘DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield’, a memoir chronicling his four decades in Nigeria’s intelligence service.
The retired DSS officer revisited the controversy that erupted in 2021 after old sermons and public statements in which Pantami allegedly expressed support for extremist groups, including al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Boko Haram, resurfaced online.
Amachree said the controversy raised questions about how someone entrusted with Nigeria’s telecommunications and digital infrastructure passed through the country’s security vetting process.
He noted that the DSS carries out extensive background checks on nominees for sensitive public offices by examining their past affiliations, public
