A new police boss is set to emerge as reports indicate that the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, is expected to proceed on a compulsory leave in the next three weeks, Leadership has confirmed.
This is in line with extant laws, paving way for his retirement on June 21, 2016 having clocked the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Recall, that Arase was appointed in April, 2015 by former President, Goodluck Jonathan, following the removal of Sulaiman Abba, over alleged misconduct.
Expectedly, with less than three months left, sources have revealed that the political horse trading and jostle for who succeeds Arase has began in earnest.
Although, the body language of the presidency from all indication reveals that the next Inspector General of Police is more likely to come from either the North-Central or the South-East geo-political zones.
However, political pundits are of the view that in appointing the next IGP, priority should be placed on competence and antecedents in view of the current state of insecurity in the country.
The proponents of federal character on the other hand, have maintained that a chart of appointments of the service and security chiefs shows that the South-East and North-Central zones have been neglected.
Currently, the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff are from the North-East, the North-West has the Director State Service, DSS, the South-West has Chief of Defence Staff and the South-South has the Chief of Naval Staff and police IG, leaving out the South-East and North-Central. This therefore shows that geo-political zone should be a factor here.
There is yet another strong school of thought who believes that no particular geo-political zone should be considered, stressing that a competent and well educated police officer, with both international and local exposure, irrespective of where he or she comes from, should be appointed as head of the Nigerian Police Force to drive the reforms and instill discipline within the Force.
“It is important to note that the appointment of the Inspector General of Police in Nigeria, following the present composition of service chiefs , might not necessarily follow the order of seniority, which favoured the current occupant of the office, because of perceived imbalances in the hierarchy,” a source said.
Aside the numerous security challenges and the need for a professional police whose headship must be creative to drive the process, there are also other challenges that call for a competent headship of the Nigeria Police Force.
This was expressed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, when he said, “This is a very complex situation, which I’m still trying so hard to understand. I have had many interactions with the Police hierarchy and the problem is the issue of funding.
“The Police is not well funded to do their job. There is no enabling atmosphere for their training and orientation.”
Eze Afrika
