Operatives of the Zone 12 Police Command, Bauchi have successfully arrested three individuals suspected of being involved in a recent kidnapping case. The
· Northern leaders lobby to influence choice of successor
· 23 DIGs, AIGs may go
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Will President Muhammadu Buhari replace the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, who is billed to retire today after clocking 35 years in service or extend his tenure?
The answers hung in the balance yesterday as the presidency kept mum over the fate of Adamu and his would-be successor.
Although efforts by THISDAY to know the next step in the management of the police with Adamu’s impending retirement from presidential spokespersons, Mr. Femi Adesina and Malam Garba Shehu, proved abortive, a presidency source said the situation was fluid as the president could take a decision between last night and today on the matter.
Speaking on Channels Television’s
Sunrise Daily show, Shehu said, “If you are going to appoint the service chiefs from every ethnic group in this country, you are going to have more than 250 Inspectors-General of Police, 250 Chiefs of Army Staff, 250 Chiefs of Naval Staff.
“It’s not going to work like that. And they have their own systems of producing leadership.
“If we say we are going to use ethnicity or region as the basis, then we have lost it. This is about law and order, it is not about ethnic identity. This country finished with tribalism in the 1960s, why are we back to it now?
A scrutiny of the police nominal roll by Daily Trust shows that none of those on the rank of DIG has up to four years before retirement to be able to complete a full tenure as IGP.
The DIGs with the most time left are Dan-Mallam Mohammed, Usman Alkali Baba and Sanusi Lemu. They will all leave the service in 2023.
Mohammed, born in Katsina in 1963, will be due for retirement on December 18, 2023. Lemu and Baba will leave the service in January and March respectively.
On the AIG rank, our findings show that only three persons have up to four years left in service.
Typically, retiring IGPs have “pull out” ceremonies on their last day in office.
But sources at the Police Headquarters say there are no such plans yet for the outgoing police boss.
The Police Act, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari last year, pegs the retirement age of police officers at 60 years of age or 35 years of service.
Section 18(8) of the new Act states: “Every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve in the Nigeria Police Force for 35 years or until the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.”
No
announced
Hours to Adamu’s statutory retirement day, the Presidency is yet to announce a new inspector general of police or extend the tenure of the current occupant of the office.