That Determination To Destroy The Police

 By  Tunji Ajibade 

Worldwide, the police are the face of the government that citizens see the most. It’s the case because they are the primary enforcers of law and order in society. They also come in between the accused and the accuser and thereby forestall citizens from taking the law into their own hands. The police equally ensure that the will of the government is carried out where there is resistance to such. These require that those wearing police uniforms are some of the best a society has, in quality, character, and professionalism.

Pointers though are that over the years this hasn’t always been the case in Nigeria. We see it in the attitude of some in uniform. For me, the root of that problem is what happens at the recruitment stage and it has been the case so for years. This time the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, is personally speaking up on what he regards as a massively compromised recruitment exercise. I don’t know if his speaking up is a first of such by any IG, but we must take note that he does.

Incidentally, I’ve followed the latest recruitment process with interest. I made some reposts online of the information concerning the application and the different stages of the recruitment process for the use of those who may be interested. I do this not because I know anyone who applies. I don’t. I simply want to follow how this one goes under the current IG. As it turns out it is the IG himself who calls attention to another round of mess that has been made of the process by those responsible. In a statement on the latest list of recruits, the IG is quoted as saying thus: “The published list contains several names of candidates who failed either the Computer-Based Test or the physical screening exercise or both.

“There are those who made it to the last stage of the exercise but were disqualified, having been found medically unfit through the standardised medical test but who also made the list of successful candidates as published by the Police Service Commission. Most worrisome is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted”.

To the IG, the power of the PSC does not include the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police, noting that it is the police that bears the brunt of the recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the PSC. “The same people who recruited anyhow for the police today will turn round to accuse the police tomorrow of inefficiency when their recruits start messing up,” he added.

That this is a strong attack by a government institution on a sister body is unmistakable. But to me, it speaks to the determination of the current IG to sanitise that one crucial instrument of the state and I think he should be supported. Why?  It’s not all the time an official in government speaks up. This current IG has the backing of the president to do the right thing so he speaks to what is right. Who benefits when the right thing is done? You and I. It’s a harrowing experience for citizens when the state’s means of enforcing law and order is bad, and corrupt through and through. I have my experience which I stated on this page in the past.

Nothing was wrong with my vehicle papers over a decade ago when I was stopped somewhere in Osun State on my return journey to Abuja. I was made to go to the police station with this weather-beaten, mean-looking officer. In their office, he asked me for money which I refused to give. Other motorists gave. I didn’t. When I reported the matter to his Divisional Police Officer some six hours later, he said nothing was wrong with my vehicle papers; he collected them from his officer and handed them back to me. Not too long ago also, I reported a case of armed robbery at a Divisional Police Office where the officer who took my report asked for money. I refused and left after I asked them, “Is this what you people do here, asking me for money for reporting a case of armed robbery?”

More than this, my ears are full of stories of what some unscrupulous officers do. In a recent high-profile case, one wealthy Nigerian was able to bribe everyone in the hierarchy in order to have his ex-wife extradited from the United Kingdom to Nigeria over false charges of unauthorised use of their company’s funds. The UK court which reviewed the case gave a verdict, stating that the police system was compromised to ensure such a frivolous extradition claim was made in the first place. It then gave a verdict in favour of the ex-wife. Other court judgments in Nigeria in favour of the ex-wife have been ignored by the ex-husband, including a pronouncement of maintaining the status quo over some properties owned by the ex-wife which the ex-husband wanted to seize. The ex-husband has severally breached such orders using known police officers whose names have already been ingloriously mentioned in court papers by lawyers to the ex-wife.

The grudges Nigerians had against compromised police officers were manifested in the ENDSARS protest. Nigerians were so frustrated by the treatment they got from officers who engaged in extortion that they took to the streets in protest. When the police are so hated by citizens the consequences are not advisable for any nation. But this is what we have on our hands. I’ve been at events where questions are asked as to what the problem with the nation is such that things are the way they are. I’ve explained that the problem is systemic; that the problems are interwoven, interconnected with no single solution that can take care of all issues. No one answer fits all situations.

That may sound hopeless. But as the regular reader of this page knows, I don’t intervene with the intention to present a hopeless situation. There is always a way out if we carefully think through the layers and wilderness of dilemmas that the nation finds itself in. For instance, one problem in Nigeria is insecurity. If we want to attend to it and secure our nation better, the police are a core factor. I refer to the personnel now, not even strategy, adoption of technology or intelligence gathering to fight crime. Personnel. I’m convinced that when the personnel is right, of the right quality, the right character, and the right education over 80 per cent of the problem of policing would have been taken care of.

Does it occur to us that sometimes the level of intelligence of an officer, their capacity to take on-the-spot decisions that are spot on can just prevent a crime or help get a criminal arrested? Give a dull and unmotivated officer the best digital device and nothing will change. This is where the system needs to support a recruitment process that places emphasis on the right kind of recruits. I think this is what the current IG is doing; the reason he’s been so different in his comments since he came to office regarding what the police force should be like. I think he’s reflecting the said and unsaid disposition of the president in this regard. Do we want to solve one major problem in the aspect of insecurity in the nation? Recruiting the right quality of persons into the police force is where to start. Then every other thing can be added from there.

It’s been a while since we got an IG that speaks in the manner the current one does. It’s high time he did for it was not today we began to have a flawed recruitment process that Nigerians complained about.  If this one is addressed and a pattern is laid for the future the nation will benefit from it. I think the latest infractions that attend the recruitment process into the police force are a determination to further destroy the police force by some unpatriotic elements. To stop them, therefore, I urge the President to support the IG on this issue as well as in the recruitment processes into the other Armed Forces.

Tunji Ajibade is an author at Punch Newspapers and can be reached at 08036683657

Police Recruitment: HURIWA, The One Man Show, Got It Wrong

By Kelvin Adegbenga

When I saw the headline "HURIWA blasts IGP over police recruitment, tells him to respect the Constitution, Supreme Court’s judgement," I laughed because the headline should have been "Emmanuel Onwubiko blasts IGP over police recruitment."

I have been reading many statements from the so-called Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and have never seen any other person than the National Coordinator, one so-called Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is a one-man squad that has been claiming an association. 

I wanted to ignore the so-called press release from Emmanuel Onwubiko but just want to make clarification on some misinformation he dished.

The police hierarchy, under the leadership of IGP Kayode Egbetokun, is not busy engaging in a superiority war with the Police Service Commission but rather reminding the Commission of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's mission to bring about harmony and synergy, closing technology and manpower to the Nigerian police force through a transparent recruitment exercise.

I never knew that Emmanuel Onwubiko is so aphasic and has lost sight of the fact that the Nigeria Police will bear the brunt of the recruitment of unqualified individuals into the force, therefore, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun is advocating for honesty and openness in the recruitment exercise rather than taking over the PSC's authority.

I am not surprised that Emmanuel Onwubiko will support the fraud in the recruitment exercise because the so-called Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is just a one-man show that has not demonstrated accountability and integrity since its formation.

For the fact that the Constitution has domiciled the powers of recruitment into the Police Force in the domain of the Police Service Commission, the Commission will collect as much as N700,000 each from those who never applied and yet whose names made the final list of recruitment. 

I won't be surprised if, at the end of the day, Emmanuel Onwubiko is not involved in recruitment racketeering because of his noxious press statement blasting the IGP over police recruitment.

I call on the Economic and Financial Crime Commission to urgently look into the account of the so-called Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and its one-man association coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko.

Kelvin Adegbenga is a freelance journalist and can be reached via @kelvinadegbenga kelvinadegbenga@yahoo.com

A Witch Cries In The Night; A Child Dies In The Morning

By Kelvin Adegbenga

I just came across the response of the so-called "Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission." I never knew such a union existed because all the messages from the PSC are always coming from Ikechukwu Ani.

The response of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission shows that they are fully involved in the allegation laid against the Commission, especially the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted.

I am very sure some of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission are jittery, as a reliable source told me that the police are investigating some cases of corrupt practices, as there are almost 10 cases under investigation against the staff of the Police Service Commission.

One can imagine the diversionary tactics of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission by saying, "This clandestine scheming by the Inspector General of Police to usurp such powers is obviously an affront on both the Nigerian Constitution and the judgement of the Supreme Court.".

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, is not usurping the powers of the PSC but rather calling for transparency and integrity in the recruitment exercise, as it was glaring that money exchanged hands in the recruitment exercise, and I won't be surprised if those behind the corrupt practices are members of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission for rushing out to respond to the genuine statement from the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

I challenge the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission to allow a free and fair probe of the union's involvement in the recruitment exercise.

I will advise the new Chairman of the Police Service Commission, DIG. Hashimu, Salihu Argungu (Rtd), not to succumb to the blackmail of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission while carrying out his duty as the PSC Chairman.

I urgently call on President Bola Tinubu to constitute a committee to probe the recruitment exercise and put more searchlight on the activities of the Joint Union of the Staff of the Police Service Commission in the recruitment exercise, especially on the allegations of financial dealings and corrupt practices.

Kelvin Adegbenga is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja. @kelvinadegbenga kelvinadegbenga!@yahoo.com 

Tinubu Vows To Deal With Buhari If Elected President

.....Says President plotting for him to lose the election

Senator Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is angry with President Muhammadu Buhari.

A source close to the former Lagos State Governor said he is very upset with President Buhari for deliberately working to frustrate his ambition of taking over from him as Nigeria’s next president.

The source said Tinubu, who is still chafing at the decision of the president and APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu last year to adopt Senate President Senator Ahmed Lawan, as their choice to pick the APC presidential ticket, has vowed that he will deal with Buhari once he is elected president.

“Asiwaju is very upset with President Buhari. He is convinced the president is going out of his way to prevent him from becoming president after him. He believes as some people have said, that President Buhari may be discreetly throwing his weight behind Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential candidate who his fellow Fulani.

“Most of the people close to Asiwaju believe that even though Buhari has joined him on the campaign trail a few times and has said Asiwaju will take over from him, he has actually been working against him behind the scenes. Practically everyone in Asiwaju’s camp knows that the President is just going through the motions. His body language and some of the policies he has come up with suggest he is tacitly frustrating Asiwaju. Asiwaju is very disappointed with Buhari and has made up his mind to extract a pound of Buhari’s flesh if he becomes president”, the source said.

Indeed, the disquiet in the Tinubu group of the APC has worsened in the last few weeks with Tinubu himself leading members of the group including Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai and Adams Oshiomhole, former Chairman of the party openly defying President Buhari on different occasions over the redesign of the Naira. In late January, Tinubu while on campaign in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Tinubu had lashed out at President Buhari accusing him of trying to undermine his candidacy by redesigning the Naira and its accompanying scarcity, and fuel scarcity following an increase in the pump price of fuel, so close to the election. The APC presidential candidate speaking at the MKO Abiola Stadium, fired a broadside at President Buhari:

“Let fuel be expensive, only they know where they keep it. Keep the Naira, we will vote and be elected. You may change the ink on the Naira notes. What you expect will not happen. We will win.

They said petrol will rise to N200 per litre and N500 per litre, let your mind be at rest. They don’t want these forthcoming elections to hold. They want to scatter it but that won’t be possible.

“They thought they cause trouble; they sabotaged fuel but with or without fuel, with or without motorcycles, we will vote and win. This is a superior revolution”.

A few weeks after Tinubu’s outburst in Abeokuta on February 15, 2023, Governor El-Rufai openly defied President Buhari in a broadcast to Kaduna people on the redesigned Naira notes. The president had in a national broadcast, stated that the old 500 and 1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender. He said the old 200 notes would be allowed to continue to be in circulation until April 10, 2023.

In his broadcast of February 16, Governor El-Rufai told Kaduna people to ignore the president’s directive.

“Let us stay calm and peaceful, and support the lawful means being employed to solve our problems. On behalf of the Kaduna State Government, I wish to assure you that none of you would lose the money you have in old notes. Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you. Whether you live in towns, villages or in our isolated rural communities, do not feel stampeded to deposit your old notes in the banks. Hold onto them. Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No law can render them worthless, ever. The law is on your side. The CBN Act, 2007 and the Bills of Exchange Act, both oblige the CBN to recognize your old notes and give you value in new notes whenever you bring them to the CBN, even in the next 100 years”, Governor El-Rufai said in the broadcast.

The Kaduna State Governor’s open defiance of President Buhari was followed up five days later by sharp criticism of the president by Oshiomhole while on campaign at the Jattu market in Edo State. The former Edo State Governor said if Buhari was not out to sabotage Tinubu’s presidential bid the he wonders why he did nor redesign the Naira in 2019 when he was seeking re-election. Speaking in a combination of pidgin and English language, he said:

“All the wahala Buhari put for currency change, my hand no dey inside. Our party don tell Buhari, wait, if you wan change currency, you should not change am during election.

“Wetin make you no change am during your time? You wan take am spoil another person time; e no do good. At this point, na God we go dey fear.

“He has to obey the Supreme Court. Supreme Court judgment is superior to the pronouncement of the president. That is the Nigerian law. Under democracy, the Supreme Court, once it pronounces, it must be obeyed. The president must obey Everywhere I go, I dissociate myself because the money in your hand, no be you print am, the colour e wear, no be you choose am.

“Na dem choose am. If dem say dey want to change it, make dem give you the new ones. Now, dem want to remove the old ones, dem no give you the new ones. So, if you have the old money, don’t throw it away. On this matter, President Buhari is on his own. Your Naira will remain valid according to the Supreme Court. Don’t throw away your Naira, keep it”.

Another source close to Tinubu says the direct attacks on President Buhari by Tinubu, El-Rufai, and other party members is an indication that the APC presidential candidate has reached the end of his tethers with Buhari. He said the decision by APC Governors closes to Tinubu to drag the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over the redesign of the Naira, was Tinubu’s subtle message to President Buhari that he had drawn the battle line.

PICTURE NEWS: ObiDatti’s Rally Flops In Ogun State

 

…….As the Former DG of LPPCC Conspicuously Absent

Some angry members of the Labour Party have described the ongoing presidential rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as a "monumental flop."

A notable member of the party who wishes to remain anonymous noted that the boycott of the presidential rally by notable leaders of the party in the state has further validated its position that all is not well with the Ogun State Labour Party.

"What else can be more humiliating than the embarrassing drama that is playing out now at the ObiDatti rally in Ogun State?" "It is an open rebuke of a delusional leader." 

The former Director General of the ObiDatti Campaign Organization, Dr. Doyin Okupe, is conspicuously absent. Also absent include the party’s State Chairman, Comrade Samuel Ashade, Oyelekan Akingbade, and Mr. Michael Feyisola, among others 

As of 5:00pm, below were the pictures from the venue:

Coalition Questions Why INEC Continues To Deal With Chief Victor Oye As APGA's National Chairman

 

The Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness has questioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on what the name of Chief Victor Oye is still doing on the INEC website?

Addressing the media on Friday in Abuja, the Director General of the Coalition, Dr. Nwambu Gabriel wondered on what grounds is Chief Victor Oye’s name being retained on the INEC website?

“This act by INEC casts a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the coming election, he said.

The statement read partially,” As a coalition, we have observed with keen interest the controversy surrounding the corrected version of the Supreme Court Judgment of May 9, 2022. Despite the controversies, the lead Justice of the Panel Hon. Justice Mary U. Peter-Odili (Rtd), in other to ensure that justice prevails, had to write from retirement to clarify to all parties that Chief Edozie Njoku was the National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) that was wrongly removed at the Jigawa State High Court.

“In her letter dated November 7, 2022, the lead Justice and other members of the panel pointed out the misconception arising from the slip of pen and tongue on paragraph 1 of page 13 of the October 14, 2021 judgment and that this error had long been corrected.

“Interestingly, all the parties to the suit including INEC were duly served. This notwithstanding, the Commission is yet to honor the Supreme Court Judgment.

“A few days ago, January 19, 2023, the Chief Justice of Nigeria through the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, while admitting that Chief Victor Oye’s name was ‘erroneously inserted’ in the Judgment further confirmed Chief Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA and requested him to come forward with a motion to the Court for the regularization of the corrected version of the Judgment.  

The coalition, therefore, urged Professor Mahmood Yakubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in the spirit of fairness and justice, to look into the name of Chief Victor Oye on their INEC’s website because it sends the wrong signal both home and abroad.

Scarcity: Without Kyari And NNPC, Nigeria Will Be Grounded

 

By Festus Chukwuma

Many Nigerians are shockingly ill-informed about the cause of the unfortunate scarcity of petrol that has been bedevilling the country for some time now.

Because of a poor understanding of what is going on; or for sheer mischief, Nigerians look for and find a scapegoat in the NNPC Ltd and its leadership under Mele Kyari. If only they know the dynamics that combine to produce these fuel queues, they will be saluting Mr Kyari and the NNPC under his leadership, instead of maligning him.

Kyari, who is without any doubt one of the most patriotic, hardworking and intelligent Nigerians around, works 24/7 to make sure that despite daunting challenges, PMS, or petrol, is available in Nigeria daily. On average, the NNPC evacuates 60 million litres daily, sells it to marketers at a price lower than the market value and still manages to pay taxes and royalties to the FG, which the government (federal, state and local) utilizes to run the country.

Many people are probably not aware that almost the whole of our neighbours is dependent on Nigeria for their petrol supply. In fact, according to very reliable sources, some of our neghbours have not imported PMS into their country for the past year. They somehow find a way to survive on the 60 million litres that the NNPC Ltd evacuates daily into the Nigerian market. Perhaps you may ask: Why are those countries not importing PMS? The answer is simple: Because they cannot afford it, they simply do not have the foreign exchange to buy the petrol at the current market price.

But Mr Mele Kyari has the mandate and the constitutional responsibility to ensure that Nigeria is kept wet with petrol no matter where and how he gets it. And that is what the man has been doing since he became GMD and later GCEO of NNPC over three years ago. How he manages to do that, people don't know and don't care.

Similarly, the issue of why scarcity persists despite Kyari's and the NNPC’s efforts is another story altogether, because so many factors are involved. For example, does Nigeria consume 60 million litres every day? How does our petrol find its way to places as far away as CAR, Sudan etc? The answer to this is also simple: Subsidy. Nigeria sells petrol at the lowest price in the whole of West Africa. It's up to you to work out the rest of the answers. What Nigerians should be doing is offering solutions on how the problem can be tackled. These are the questions Nigerians should be asking and coming together to solve, and not abusing Mr Kyari, without whose effort, we will not even see the product, not to talk of queuing to buy it. That is when Nigerians will see real hell.

As for those that are taking undue advantage of the situation to launch a political attack on the government, they should be mindful of their duties to their country. Abusing people like Mele Kyari is unjust and a very terrible display of lack of concise. The man works very hard for his country. If we fail to appreciate him, we might end up with ruthless individuals that work only for themselves and will not care what happens to the country.

Festus Chukwuma writes from Imo State.