IG of Police doesn’t have the power to sack any Police officer. – @Segalink

The responsibility lies with the Police Service Commission, whose duty is to appoint/recruit, promote and discipline the officers as empowered by the PSC (Establishment) Act, 2001.

It is quite unfortunate that as we speak the PSC has been rendered moribund based on a political conundrum and battle of interest since the Chairman & Chief Executive of the Commission resigned. There’s been a heated debate over following the dictate of the law on this matter.

From the counsel of those with whom I have communed over the years on Police matters, the intention of the lawmakers when they crafted the Police Service Commission Establishment Act, 2001 was to ensure the Commission is led by a balanced team of people that represented…

…a variety of interests and zones across the country in accordance with the Federal Character principles. See Section 2 of the Act, which states as attached:

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If you recall at the Senate confirmation of all Commissioners of the PSC; they were referenced based on the political zones they represented as attached. With the resignation of the Chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Smith; there’s neither a SW representation on the PSC nor Activity.

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Suffice to say all pending matters requiring the action of the PSC may be politically stalled indefinitely because of this gap and this include the case in point, where justice may never be seen as served neither would deference be seen as established to forestall recurrence.

It must be noted however, that the President @MBuhari has been briefed on this and as gathered, rather than make an appointment to fulfill the Federal Character provision of the constitution as required in Sec 2(1) of the PSC Act, he directed them to setup a committee.

The committee from all indication is not following the provision of the act in respect of the balance of zonal representation according to the PSC Act but seeks to nominate a former IGP from the South South thus disenfranchising the South West & creating a political conundrum.

It is important to state here that there is no provision in the PSC Act that a retired IGP must be appointed to the commission. In the past at the discretion of past Presidents, a few former IGPs had been considered leading to historical tensions between past Chairmen & the IGPs.

The position of the PSC Act is that the retired Chairman should be replaced by someone who represents the same interest (SW Zone) as he did and only for the remainder of his tenure (ending June 2023). See section 4(3) of the Police Service Commission (Establishment) Act, 2001.

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By implication, if the plot by the IGP, Minister of Police Affairs and other interest to contravene the provision of the PSC Act, 2001 succeeds, we are bound to have no representation of the South West on the PSC should a SW appointee be jettisoned to serve as chairman.

Exclusion of SW from the PSC to serve out the remainder of the tenure of the retired Chairman is bad politically in an election year especially for the APC and by extension for the justice delayed by the needless dormant state of the PSC at such a time as this.

Edo State already have a commissioner on the PSC (Braimoh Adogame Austin), and another representative from Edo (SS Zone) as proposed, to the total exclusion of the SW will be UNLAWFUL. The President should wade in and ensure the COMPLIANCE with the LAW.

Political interferences balkanize our institutions & this is one of the malaises plaguing the repositioning of the @PoliceNG If the law is contravened in the composition of a sensitive internal accountability mechanism of the Police, justice/discipline will be forlorn.

There is a reason why we facilitated the passing of bills and the assent of same by the President into Law (Police Act 2020 long before the Protest). The internal accountability mechanism was beefed up with the constitutional backing of the operation of the @PoliceNG_CRU

Check all the reports of the interventions and investigations of the Complaint Unit from 2017 till date and you will find within it the highlight of ALL the cancerous nodes long before they became a national problem (From IRT, SARS, Eagle Crack PH & even Ajiwe Police Station).

We recommend that the IGP pay proper attention to the reports of the @PoliceNG_CRU as failure to do so would be to ignore critical Early Warning Signs. The efficiency of the unit with the collaboration of the FPRO @Princemoye1, @AcpIshaku & all State Command PROs is commendable.

So beyond throwing tantrums and demonizing the Police, understand their inherent operational and political conundrums and let’s give them the necessary Political Will to fix the political issues plaguing the full implementation of its REFORM for the sake of all our children.

As we speak the Memorandum for the appointment of the replacement Chairman at the PSC is gathering dust at the Presidency & no priority is given to it because of the politics surrounding the compliance with the provision of law. The Internal Accountability of Police is on Recess!

We all MUST add our voice in the spirit of patriotism to the full implementation of the Police Act 2020 with emphasis on the adherence to the provision of Law. Without the @PoliceNG being on the right track, we have no Civilization whatsoever!