The facts have emerged on why the recommendation of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba, to deploy Commissioners of Police (CPs) Frank Mba and Idowu Owohunwa to Ogun and Lagos States has not been approved by the Police Service Commission (PSC) is still on hold.
The IGP had on January 24 in a letter to the PSC recommended the CPs for approval to strengthen the strategic and operational control of their prospective commands.
THE Parrot Reporters earlier reported that the PSC was considering the recommendation for approval, but new developments now suggest the PSC may not approve the IGP’s recommendation.
A highly placed source at the PSC revealed that the IGP did not follow the guidelines for the appointment of CPs.
“We did not approve the recommendation. The Commission wants the IGP to follow PSC guidelines by recommending three persons per state with their CV for the Commission to take an informed decision,” the source explained.
May be the reason, some senior police officers scheduled to appear before the commission for their mandatory promotion exercise boycotted it on Friday, allegedly at the behest of the IGP.
The PSC had earlier sent invitations to the officers to appear before it for the usual interaction to ascertain their suitability and capacity but the officers did not show up.
“When we wrote to the IGP to get the officers to come for the interview, he wrote back advising us to suspend the Plenary meeting and wait for Arase to assume office.
A letter by the IGP to the PSC read: “Following the appointment of IGP Solomon Arase (retd.), by the President as the substantive chairman of the PSC and his subsequent confirmation by the Senate on 24th January 2023; the IGP respectfully advise that the commission should suspend its plenary to allow for the new chairman of the commission to resume office.”
The source continued, “The Commission wrote back and told him he has no such locus to give the advice and that the PSC was going ahead with the meeting”.
The letter by the PSC to the IGP reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Police Service Commission (Establishment) Act, 2001, section 6, subsection 2, states that ‘The commission shall not be subject to the direction, control or supervision of any other authority or person in the performance of its functions other than is prescribed in this Act’. The Inspector-General of Police has not been stated as an exception to this provision of the law”.
The official linked the IGP’s position to the refusal of the PSC to approve Mba and Owohunwa’s deployment, saying, “So, maybe that was his problem”.
In apparent retaliation, the PSC also suspended the promotion of eight CPs to the rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIG) and 11 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) to the next rank “due to their failure to appear before the mandatory promotion interview”.
In a statement signed by the PSC spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani on Sunday, the Commission expressed “surprise on their failure to honour the invitation especially as the 2023 general elections are just days away”.
The commission said the suspension of the senior officers was reached at the reconvened 18th plenary meeting of the commission held on Thursday and Friday, chaired by its acting Chairperson, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi.
Recall that the reports of the IGP’s recommendation for Ogun and Lagos deployment were greeted with approval by many Nigerians who believed the step was a leap forward by the police authorities and the current administration ahead of the forthcoming presidential election.
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