By Mike Oboh
There is an air of uncertainty and tension at Louis Edet house, headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force as IGP Adamu Mohammed retires on Monday with no clear direction of who takes over from him or if the president has extended his tenure.
Investigations by Daybreak however reveals there are ongoing intrigues and moves by political jobbers and influence peddlers to ensure that their choice candidate tskes over the plum job of IGP as Adamu bows out.
Adamu, a member of the ASP Cadet Course 14, is due to retire on account of service years. The IGP clocks 35 years in service on Monday, having enlisted in the Police Force on February 1, 1986.
The Police Act, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari last year, pegs the retirement age of police officers at 60 years of age or 35 years of service.
Section 18(8) of the new Act states: “Every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve in the Nigeria Police Force for 35 years or until the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.”
Section 7 subsection 2 of the Act provides that: “The person to be appointed as Inspector General of Police shall be a Senior Police Officer not below the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police with the requisite academic qualification of not less than a first degree or its equivalent in addition to professional or management experience.”
Hours to Adamu’s statutory retirement day, the Presidency is yet to announce a new inspector general of police or extend the tenure of the current occupant of the office.
By law, the police chief is appointed by the president on the “advice” of the Police Council. The Council is chaired by the president and has the 36 state governors, Chairman of the Police Service Commission and the IGP as members.
Since the president has remained mute Adamu is still said to be hopeful of a tenure extension.
The Buhari administration had in the past retained key military and paramilitary officials even after they exhausted their statutorily allowed time of service.
Senior police officers are said to be working directly and through proxies to lobby for the plum job.
While some top officers in the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) will leave with the IGP on February 1, or soon after, there are a few of them who are hopeful of getting the post.
The DIGs with the most time left are the trio of Dan-Mallam Mohammed, Usman Alkali Baba and Sanusi Lemu. They will all leave the service in 2023.
