Former Deputy Director of Nigeria’s Department of State Services, Dennis Amachree, has publicly criticized the appointment of Isa Ali Pantami as a federal minister, describing it as a decision that revealed weaknesses in the country’s security vetting process.
In his new book, DSS @40: My Journey Behind the Shield, Amachree argues that naming Pantami as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy created concerns within security circles about how thorough background checks were conducted before high-level appointments.
According to a report by Punch, Amachree used a section of the book to reflect on the 2021 controversy that followed the resurfacing of Pantami’s old sermons and past public statements. Those recordings sparked national debate and calls for his resignation at the time.
The former DSS official said the episode highlighted a broader issue: the need for security agencies to be more involved and more candid in the screening of nominees for sensitive government positions. He suggested that gaps in that process can have long-term implications.
Pantami, a former Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, was appointed minister in 2019. His portfolio covers telecommunications, digital policy, and Nigeria’s push for a digital economy.
The 2021 controversy centered on videos and audio clips from years earlier in which Pantami made comments that many Nigerians found troubling given his new role overseeing communications infrastructure and data.
At the time, the government defended the appointment, saying Pantami had renounced any extremist views and was focused on driving Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda. Pantami himself publicly addressed the issue and distanced himself from the old comments.
Amachree’s comments in DSS @40 revisit that period from an insider’s perspective. As someone who served in the DSS for decades, he frames the incident as a case study in how security considerations intersect with politics and public perception.
The book, released to mark 40 years of the DSS, combines Amachree’s personal experiences with analysis of key moments in the agency’s history. His remarks on the Pantami appointment add to ongoing discussions about transparency, vetting, and trust in Nigeria’s public service appointments.
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