PSC Writes IG over Violation of Policy in CPs’ Appointment – TheNigerialawyer

Again, IG ignores commission’s request on deployment of police
chiefs
We’ve no complaints on lopsidedness in police appointments, says
FCC

The raging battle between the Police Service Commission (PSC)
and the Police High Command festered Wednesday with the commission
accusing the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, of
flouting a policy that requires each state of the federation to
produce a police commissioner to head a state command.

The commission, led by a former Inspector General of Police,
Musuliu Smith, and the police are already in court over the alleged
violation of the powers of the commission on the recruitment of
10,000 constables ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

There have been mounting concerns over the lopsided deployment
of commissioners of police across the 36 states and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), leading to a situation where some states
have four commissioners of police manning four state commands while
some states do not have a single commissioner of police in charge
of any state command.

THISDAY had in an exclusive report on the front page of its
November 26, 2019 edition, detailed the lopsidedness in the posting
of commissioners of police to command positions, with the
North-west topping the list of the geopolitical zones with the
highest number of CPs in command positions.

The posting showed some states have more than three CPs heading
state police commands while others have none contrary to the
provision of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution(as
amended),which forbids domination of one section of the country by
the other.

It states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation
or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be
carried out in such a manner to reflect the federal character of
Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command
national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no
predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic of
other sectional groups in that government or in any of its
agencies.”

THISDAY gathered that the latest redeployment of commissioners
of police effected November 14 fell short of the equitable policy
requirement.

The subsequent minor reshufflement that affected the CPs of Ogun
and Akwa Ibom States did not follow the policy objectives
either.
However, the Federal Character Commission (FCC), mandated to ensure
compliance with equitable representation of all states and ethnic
groups in the composition of the government or any of its agencies,
said yesterday it could not do anything about the lopsidedness in
police command postings because nobody has complained to the
commission.

But in a letter dated October 29, 2019 with reference No:
PSC/2180/1, which THISDAY sighted, the PSC had called for
nominations of three persons per state on the rank of commissioner
of police for the commission to choose one and appoint as
commissioner but the IG allegedly ignored the letter and proceeded
to approve the appointment and posting of the CPs.

The letter signed by the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the
Commission, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri, referred the IG to the relevant
sections of the constitution empowering the commission to carry out
such posting.

“Recall in its Ref No: PSC/2180/1 dated 15th May 2019, the
commission, pursuant to Section 215 (1) b of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Section 6
(1)(c) of the Police Service Commission (Establishment) Act 2001,
conveyed to you its approved policy on appointment of commissioner
of police for each state of the federation.

“In line with that police referred to in paragraph 1 above, and
sequel to the availability of vacancies as a result of the
promotion of commissioners of police (CPs) who hitherto commanded
the Nigeria Police contingents stationed namely, Akwa Ibom, Cross
River, Edo, Jigawa, Kano, Lagos and Ogun, the commission requests
that you nominate three persons per state on the rank of
commissioner of police for each of the seven states named in this
paragraph, ” it said.

The letter further advised the IG that “in carrying out your
nominations, the commission expects you to put into effect a
holistic overview of the entire body of serving state command CPs
as presently constituted and adhere strictly to the federal
character principle as well as give consideration to gender
equity”.

The commission then called for nominations from the following
states notably, “Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu,
Anambra, Kogi, Benue, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo and
Jigawa, which are not represented in the present body of state
command CPs.”

The letter also demanded detailed bio data of the officers,
including educational qualifications and dates, courses attended,
if any, and the institutions and dates, career progression from
entry till date, work experience in the Nigeria Police Force,
outstanding performances if any, documented disciplinary cases
against any officer, and the IG’s appraisal of the officer’s
general conduct and his/her exemplary character if any, including
reasons for recommending the officer.

“The commission expects the response from the IG earliest so
that the appointments could be effected promptly to avoid leaving
the affected state commands without commissioners of police for too
long.”

THISDAY learnt that despite the letter, the IG on November 14,
had ordered the immediate redeployment of seven commissioners of
police to state commands.

They include acting CP Olusegun Odumosu who was posted to Lagos;
Imohimi Edgal, Ogun State command and Nkereuwem Akpan as CP, Cross
River State. Others are Kenneth Ebrimson, Akwa Ibom State; Habu
Ahmadu, Kano State; Lawal Jimeta, Edo State and Philip Maku, Bauchi
State Command.

He later carried out a minor reshuffle by the swapping of
positions between the CPs in Ogun and Akwa Ibom State Commands.
Efforts by THISDAY to get the police high command to speak on the
matter were fruitless.

Both the IG and the police spokesman, Frank Mba, a Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP), could not be reached for comments on
the correspondence between the PSC and the IG.

We’ve No Complaints on Lopsided Police Command
Appointments, Says FCC

Contacted by THISDAY on what the commission was doing to ensure
compliance with the principle of federal character in command
postings in the police, the FCC said it was yet to receive any
complaints from the PSC or any other body on the matter.

It added it would only take action on the issue if a written
complaint from the PSC or any other body is submitted to it.

A top official of FCC, who spoke off the record told THISDAY
that FCC has not received any complaint against the status quo but
it would act if it did.

He said: “We have not received any complaint from PSC or the
police. We act on complaints or petitions sent to us by aggrieved
parties as regards violation of federal character principle.

“If you don’t let us know what is happening with regards to
violation of the federal character principle as it concerns you or
your office, we cannot act.

“A doctor cannot go knocking on doors asking who is sick here.
If you are unhealthy, you have to go and report to the hospital and
see a doctor who will attend to you. That is how we work.”

According to the source, a committee set up by the commission
handles issues bordering on federal character as it relates to
security agencies.

“If we receive a complaint of that nature, that committee
handles such cases,” he said.

The Ambassador Abdullahi H. Shinkafi-led FCC was established by
Act No 34 of 1996 to implement and enforce the federal character
principle of fairness and equity in the distribution of public
posts and socio-economic infrastructure among the various
federating units.