Adelani Adepegba, PunchNG
The Presidency on Monday said no date has been fixed for the appointment of a new Inspector-General of Police.
The incumbent IGP, Mohammed Adamu, was expected to leave office on Monday, having attained the statutory retirement age.
However, Adamu was in office till past 6pm on Monday and attended to a large number of visitors.
Findings indicate that he did not hand over to any senior officer as expected.
The PUNCH reports that the President was supposed to convene a meeting of the Police Council which has the mandate to appoint a new IG.
Findings, however, indicate that the council which comprised the President, state governors and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, merely adopts whomever is appointed as IGP by the President, contrary to its prescribed roles.
Speaking on Channels television’s Sunrise Daily, Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu said he was not aware of the imminent announcement of a new police chief.
He stated, “The President returns to Abuja (from Katsina) on Tuesday. He should be on his desk by Wednesday. I don’t know when he will do this. One thing I can assure you is that in places sensitive like that, there is no vacuum that will subsist, so therefore, the system will take care of itself.”
Shehu also stressed that the appointment of the next IGP will not be based on ethnic considerations.
“The President will rather have an Inspector-General of Police who will make you and I safer, protect life and property than one who is more pronounced by his tribal marks,” he noted.
Shehu said it is impracticable for top security appointments to be made based on factors such as ethnicity or regions.
The spokesman added that the appointment will be based on who can best help to protect lives and property across the country.
