The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has swore in the new chairman of the Service Commission, former Inspector-General of Police, Dr Solomon Arase (retd.).
Arase took his oath of office at 10:05 am on Wednesday, at the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in the presence of Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SGF Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and other FEC members.
This comes two months after the Senate confirmed him as the PSC’s chairperson after the President submitted his nomination to the Senate and requested that it do so in accordance with Sections 153 (1) and 154 (1) of the Constitution as it then stood.
Between April 2015 and June 2016, 65-year-old Arase served as the 18th indigenous Inspector-General of Police. He has held a number of positions, including that of head of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, the top intelligence-gathering division of the Nigerian police. Arase retired in 2016.
Five members of the Code of Conduct Bureau’s board were also sworn in by the president.
They include Murtala Kankia from Katsina State (North-West); Zephaniah Bulus from Nasarawa State (North Central) and Farouk Umar from Yobe State (North East), Taofeek Abdulsalam from Ondo State (South West) and Prof. Juwaria Badamasi from Kogi State (North Central).
Council members also observed a moment of silence in honour of Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya who died on Sunday, March 26, 2023.
Diya served as Chief of General Staff and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council under the Abacha regime.
Born on April 3, 1944 at Odogbolu in Ogun State, Diya joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and fought during the Nigerian Civil War.
He was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994.
As Chief of the General Staff, he was second in command and the de facto vice president of Nigeria under General Sani Abacha from 1994 to 1997.
Buhari went on to preside over this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting which began around 10:30 am.