CSO To Tinubu: Appoint Officer With Requisite Knowledge, More Than Four Years In Service To Retire As Next IGP

A Nigerian Civil Society Contact Group, CSCG, has urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the next Inspector General of Police has a requiste Knowledge to tackle crimes and more than four years in service to retire in order to be effective and work without any distraction.

CSCG in a statement issued by its national secretary , Barrister Ayo Omoleaupen, Esq and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday said this is the condition precedent to have effective policing.

He said;” We do know that the tenure of the incumbent Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, will soon end and there will be an immediate need to appoint his successor.

“Considering the desperate security situation of the country for the past few years and the increasing sophistication with which criminal and terrorist elements continue to carry out their nefarious activities, it is extremely crucial to ensure that the next Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police is a deliberate choice based on law, proven capacity, experience and the energy to cope with the new internal security challenges of the country.”

The group maintains that It behoves on Mr President not only to ensure a prudent adherence to the laws guiding the appointment of an IGP, but must also take other fundamental variables into consideration, particularly with regard to Section 7(6) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 which states that the person appointed to the office of the Inspector – General of the Police shall hold office for Four years.

“In the wisdom of the drafters of this section of the Act, it follows that while making the choice of who to be Nigeria’s Police IG, the president and the Police Council must pay special attention to ensure that whoever is being chosen has at least four more years or above to serve in the Nigerian Police before retirement.

“We take this position because if policemen and officers, by law, are to retire at age 60 or after serving 35 years in the Police, for any officer to remain in service beyond the statutory age of retirement is tantamount to illegality and a direct violation of the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

“Appointing a Police officer who has just a few months or two years or less to retire as Police IG defeats the purpose or the intendment of Section 7(6) of the Police Act.

“An officer nearing retirement cannot have the same zeal, focus and the energy that the demanding office of the IGP requires and cannot aggregate the capacity to run the office productively. Oftentimes, Presidents in the past have had to illegally extend tenures of Police IGs after they had reached the statutory age of retirement but the government still wanted them in office for whatever reason. It is an abuse of power. This breach of the law must not be allowed to continue.

“The democratic credentials of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu include fighting for the adherence to the rule of law, institutional and constitutional due processes. Therefore, we believe that he will bring this to bear in considering all the factors that will inform the choice of the next IGP.

“The current Chief of Staff to the President, Right Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila, played significant roles during legislation on this crucial matter by ensuring that the 4-year tenure Bill was passed into law and it will be counterproductive for him not to call the attention of Mr.President to this salient point of law.

“The current embarrassing situation whereby a sitting IGP had to be taken to court to enforce his retirement does not augur well for our image as a country of rules and laws. It certainly is a dent on the image of the Nigeria Police as an institution that enforces laws and must be guided by laws.

“Therefore, we passionately appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to judiciously look into this concern and make sure that the next IGP has more than four years to remain in service. Not only that. The next IGP must be one with the intellectual capacity and the physical attributes to withstand the rigors of his office.” The statement said.