The “war” between the two foremost security institutions in the country, the Nigeria Police force and its supervising commission, the Police Service Commission (PSC), which are constitutionally established to co-exist for administrative and operational convenience, has taken a new dimension.
Unfortunately, in 2000 their relationship got ruptured sequel to maladministrative lapses and misinterpretation of the law, emanating from the office of the Inspector-General of Police stepped down a robust relationship for peculiar reasons. Before then, the chairman of the PSC felt free to pay courtesy visits to the IGP for consultation and vice versa.
The cold war between the PSC and NPF started when the police headquarters subtly obtained the police recruitment list only to doctor the list by injecting names that created more furor between the two institutions.
The police wanted to be fully in charge of the police recruitment exercise, thereby arrogating an unknown power to itself, consequently, ignoring an existing constitutional mandate that reposed in the PSC the authority to recruit police.
Despite concerned intervention of elder security stakeholders like former IGPs Mike Okiro, Tafa Balogun and Gambo Jimeta to bring a lasting solution to the conflict, the efforts were rebuffed by IGP Adamu Muhammed. As IGP Adamu stuck to his guns and later met his Waterloo, as the court ruled in favour of the commission, the bad blood already injected into the system continued to erode the good relationship between the commission and the police headquarters. This resulted in a demonstration by staffers of the commission.
Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed former IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, to head the Police Service Commission as its fifth chairman. Interestingly, the appointment of Arase attracted instant confirmation by the National Assembly. In fact, it seems to have triggered a new dispensation both at police headquarters and the PSC. Many see the coming of Arase as a welcome development that would usher into the police community and era of better fraternity, progress and unity of purpose.
Arase has always symbolised unity and progress. His appointment is like fixing a round peg in a round hole. His charisma is expected to neutralise and douse negative tendencies in th police system. As the principal staff officer (PSO) to former IGP Tafa Balogun, now late, Arase’s comportment and outstanding intelligence further propelled his ascension to greater heights professionally as a police officer of repute.
No wonder President Buhari was alleged to have said that the retirement of Arase from the NPF really affected his policy for the Nigeria Police. Named Solomon at birth, his wisdom immensely contributed to the success of Balogun as IGP. His unique disposition has always helped in creating favourable policies and professionalism.
Many believe that his coming on board the PSC would help to right the broken relationship between the police hierarchy and the commission. Truly, the applause that greeted his appointment and confirmation is a good omen and a signal to a lasting solution to every policy issue on the table.
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Election rules for the police
The run-up to the 2023 general election has thrown up security challenges such that Nigerian security agencies are dusting their operational booklets to address more security and politically-induced challenges.
From the Nigerian Air Force assisting in the movement of electoral materials to the army’s provision of secondary security, they all seem to know that all hands should be on deck. Also, there are the EFCC and DSS carrying out covert survelliance and the Civil Defence Corps and the police providing protection at about 176,846 polling booths across the country.
No one needs to inform all the security leaders about the need to put on their thinking caps with a clear view to find solutions to unexpected political violence. The police, being at the forefront of maintaining security in the country, have already shown proactiveness by putting together a security booklet titled “Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty.”
The code stipulates that every security agent on election duty across the country, is expected to:
a) Swear to an oath of neutrality in accordance with the Electoral Act;
b) Be at alert at all times;
c) Be approachable by all members of the public;
d) Exhibit a high degree of professionalism;
e) Maintain impartiality and fairness in dealings with all parties;
f) Ensure that they sustain ICCES primacy in securing the electoral process;
g) All officers must adopt professional orientation that emphasizes democratic values and respect for human rights and dignity;
h) All officers should be mindful of the duty imposed upon them by law, to protect all against illegal acts and dispense their duties without discrimination based on gender, race, religion, colour, sex, creed, associations of affiliations;
i) Officers should be ready to receive instructions from designated INEC officials, and
j) Officers should be duty-bound to render assistance to those in need of such, especially vulnerable persons.
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Barring the President
The recent information from Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s office intimating President Muhammadu Buhari on why his official trip should be cancelled and rescheduled to another day was attributed to security concerns and complaints from residents about difficulty in obtaining the new naira notes.
In a statement, the governor’s aide, Abba Anwar, said Buhari was scheduled to inaugurate some projects executed by the governor and lawmakers from the state, political stakeholders and the business community had agreed with the decision to postpone the visit. They also called for an extension of the deadline for returning old naira notes.
“Deeply concerned with the hardship caused by the limited time given for halting the use of old naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and for security reasons, Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, reveals that the state resolved and wrote to Presidency that the visit of the President to commission some projects should be postponed,” the statement read.
Anwar said the decision was made on Friday at Government House, Kano, during an interactive session with academics, lawmakers, political leaders and members of the business community.
“As we are waiting for this important visit, we found ourselves in this situation, which puts citizens into untold hardship. For security purposes, we wrote to Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano is postponed.”
That the Kano Governor cited security and the inaccessibility of the new notes as the main reasons for rescheduling the presidential visit and not the invasion of terrorists speaks volumes about the fundamental flawsthat are eminent in the Buhari’s administration.
The camouflaged security concern was not truly the Governor, and all those he listed out as supporters of his armtwisting venture. All that the governor was trying to convey to the President was that the change of currency notes was infuriating the masses and they might revolt and even create an unpleasant scene when the President’s convoy entered Kano. The President should be thankful to the governor, who did not keep sealed lips but was able to rightly convey the message to the President.
Maybe it was the governor’s decision that forced the President to retreat from his earlier uncompromising stand. The governor should be honoured for saving the country from what would have turned out to be devastating doom.