Constable recruitment: Nine former IGPs hold peace talk with Adamu, PSC boss

Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and immediate past chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), Sir Mike Okiro, on Thursday led eight former IGPs who held peace talk with IGP Mohammed Adamu and PSC chairman, former IGP Musiliu Smith.

Journalists learnt that the meeting, which took place in the Abuja residence of one of the former IGPs, was initially scheduled for 11a.m but was shifted to 2p.m due to issues of logistics.

The meeting was said to have lasted for about three hours.

Apart from Smith, a commissioner in the PSC, retired AIG Lawal Bawa, and other officials of the PSC were also present at the meeting.

According to reliable sources at the Police Service Commission and the IGP’s office, the meeting was conveyed on the instance of Okiro to resolve the supremacy tussle between the IGP and PSC, which has affected retirement, recruitment of 10,000 constables and promotion of officers.

The feud between the commission and the IGP reportedly arose because DIG Yakubu Jubrin of Training and Development, was said to have been queried by the commission through the IGP, but the IGP allegedly refused to allow him reply the query.

The DIG was reportedly queried because he allegedly concealed the venue for the screening of the 10,000 constables to be recruited from the commission.

Adamu was said to have, in his reply to Smith dated September 19, 2019, explained the reason why his DIG should not have been queried by the commission.

“Apart from resolving the acrimony between the IGP and the commission, there is rise in crime in the country. We cannot fold our hands and watch.

“It is also our responsibility to advise the IGP on how to tackle the insecurity,” a dependable source close to the meeting quoted one of the former IGPs as saying.

Another source disclosed that one of the items on the agenda of the meeting was to prevail on PSC to rescind its decision and lift the embargo on promotion and to rescind its decision not to process retirement benefits of retiring officers.

“We also want the commission to rescind its decision of not promoting and not processing retirement benefits of innocent officers,” the source said, adding, “There are vacant positions for certain ranks and some officers are due for promotion, they cannot be punished for what they did not commit; those who are retiring should not suffer or be frustrated for no just cause.”

On Wednesday, it was reported that DIG Jubrin, representing North Central, who is at the centre of the controversy, is retiring next week Tuesday, along with three other DIGs.

There are seven DIGs, out of which six are representing the six geo-political zones.

The DIGs and the Force Secretary, an AIG, usually form the management team of every IGP. Three out of the retiring four DIGs are representing three geo-political zones.

With the earlier decision of the PSC not to promote any officer, the IGP would have been left with only three DIGs, a structure which may have upset the equitable representation of the six zones in the country.

Sources said this was why the Okiro reconciliation move was necessary to enable the PSC promote new DIGs to fill the vacuum.

We also reported on Wednesday that about five AIGs are also due for retirement in December, this year.

They are Adetemi O Samuel Ogunjemilusi, Maurice A Yusuf, Dan Bature, Basen Dapiya Gwana, and O.M. Obembe, who is the Force Medical Officer.

There was also the exigency for PSC to promote five Commissioners of Police (CPs) to replace the retiring AIGs.

Already, three Commissioners of Police (CPs) in charge of Lagos, Edo and Kano police commands and two other CPs are due for promotion to the rank of AIG.

It is expected that after the feud is resolved, the commission would hold emergency plenary session to fill the vacancies.

As at the time of going to press, the decisions reached at the meeting were not yet known.