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The Police Service Commission has denied the recent tenure elongation granted to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.
Ikechukwu Ani, the Head of Press and Public Relations revealed this in a statement on Monday.
The Commission was reacting to a statement credited to an online medium claiming that a commissioner representing the police in the commission, AIG Lawal Bawa told it the PSC endorsed Baba’s tenure elongation.
Ani said, the Police Commission was not even contacted for its opinion before President Muhammadu Buhari carried out the action.
The statement reads partly;
“The online publication in a supposed interview with a commissioner representing the police in the commission, AIG Lawal Bawa, stated that the PSC commissioner confirmed that the commission is not against the extension of the tenure of the IGP.
“It went further to quote the commissioner as saying, if the IGP feels that it will affect effective monitoring of the elections, let him write to the president for their extension, we (the PSC) have no objection”.
Ani however said the commissioner has since denied making such a statement, stressing that he was obviously misquoted.
According to him, “he told the online publication that it was the prerogative of Mr. President to decide.
“The commission, therefore, wishes to state that it has not endorsed any tenure elongation for the current IGP. As a matter of fact, the commission was never contacted on this subject at any time.
“The commission wishes to appeal to the media to avoid unnecessary sensationalism in an attempt to attract huge readership.
“The commission will also continue to work to ensure an effective and efficient Nigerian police rooted in the rules and regulations governing its operations.”
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari approved that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba will see out his four-year tenure as the Police boss.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, disclosed after the first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of 2023.
He also stated that the police boss would not be retiring midway into the general elections, stressing that he has already gotten a letter of extension.
The minister explained the Police Act 2020 has.changed the rules for an IGP’s retirement, adding that the new law makes the tenure of the Police boss a four-year period.