THE State Security Service (SSS) has denied an allegation that it took the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to court.
The SSS, in a statement on Friday signed by its spokesman, Dr Peter Afunnaya, dismissed an online publication which claimed that a court stopped it from arresting the INEC chairman.
The agency reassured Nigerians and the international community of its commitment to the maintaining law and order and accomplishing free and fair elections this year as pledged by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It urged Nigerians to join in the pursuit of national stability and unity.
According to the statement, the report skewed what transpired at the court and reported it out of context.
The statement reads in part: “It is against this back-drop that the service pointed out its disapproval to the editorial authorities of the newspaper. The outfit, which though argued that what was reported in its online version was different from the hard copy, promised to address the concerns raised but did not.
“This statement, however, becomes important to guide public understanding and perception, especially that the said report is misleading. It falsely left an impres- sion that the service went to court against the INEC chairman.
“The service is aware of the antics of some mischievous elements who are desirous of fomenting crisis in the country, including creating unnecessary controversies around the forthcoming general election.
“One of their strategies is to subvert the efforts of the service in ensuring peaceful coexistence and harmony.
Another is a determination to overheat the polity and subtly exploit the judiciary to distract or even under- mine not only the service but other security and law enforcement agencies from undertaking their constitu- tional roles.”
The SSS warned individuals and groups to desist from devious plans and advised all critical stakeholders to be vigilant and resist attempts to use them to break the law.
