There is a crack on the wall of the Nigeria Police Force. The Force management is divided since news of President Goodluck Jonathan’s plan to elongate the tenure of the incumbent Inspector General of Police (IGP) Muhammed Abubakar filtered out.
A competent source in the Presidency confided in our Correspondent that two serving Deputy Inspector Generals of Police (DIGs) and three retired Inspector General of Police (Rtd IGPs) have sworn that extension of Abubakar’s term by President Jonathan will never see the light of day.
“But the President is not perturbed about their tale by moonlight stories, and has concluded that MD Abubakar remain the right choice for the office of the Inspector General of Police for now.”
It was gathered that the lobbyists have nothing new against IGP Abubakar. “They would always tell them, tell me his new crime and I may listen but certainly I am not going to judge him by his past. They say Abubakar is very close to President Jonathan’s opposition, including some top shots of a particular political party, but the president would tell them, let me see his membership identity card of any political party and i will fire him the next minute. They said, he is religious fanatic, and the President said, we all are,” our source said.
The source added that, President Jonathan has been telling the lobbyists against Abubakar’s tenure elongation, to give him a suitable candidate for the job, “none of them is able to suggest one name, that after security check, would not have comma. So the president is not favourably disposed to their lobbying.”
It was gathered that Jonathan was satisfied with the performance of Abubakar since his appointment and therefore would not want to let him go in a hurry.
But investigation by our Correspondent revealed that there is a crack on the hitherto solid wall of the Police management team. It was gathered that when Abubakar got wind of what was going on, he confronted the DIG with the allegations, of course he denied but further intelligence report showed series of meetings he has held with members of his group, who called themselves, “Abubakar must go”. It was at this point that Abubakar made up his mind that he would not hand over to him.
The source added that the current atmosphere among the top echelon of the Force was everything but peaceful. “The DIG who allowed himself to be used is burying his face in shame. He used to be very close to IGP Abubakar, in fact they were friends but today, they hardly see eye to eye, except during meetings and official gathering.”
The source also dismissed the rumour making the round that the Presidency was considering CP Mbu Joseph Mbu for the IGP position.
“Why that might not be impossible, but it would be against the rule of appointing IGP. You know the rules. So let us not waste air time on that. This is because, President Jonathan is not the kind of President you push around. He takes his time to do whatever he sets out to do. However, let me tell you, if Abubakar decides today that he wants to go and rest, he has a candidate he would handover to and recommend to Mr. Preisdent for the job, certianly that person is not among the present crop of DIGs.”
The Nigerian Police Force is still being governed by a colonial law, which has seen no comprehensive review since its initial promulgation in 1943. Though there was an initiative to review the Police Act in 2004, but that effort was somehow stalled by the much needed legal framework.
The review started in November 2004 and is was undertaken by an interagency committee comprising the police, government and civil society representatives. So far several stages of public consultation and a legal audit of all the laws engaging the police have taken place.
The appointment and removal of the Inspector General of Police, remains the reserved prerogative of the serving President, through the recommendation of the Police council, which the President is the Chairman.
