Politics
ELECTIONS: Opposition parties kick against redeployment of 37 CPs
The approval by Police Service Commission (PSC) for the redeployment of 37 commissioners of police for the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has got the opposition political parties under the aegis of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) kicking.
The opposition parties argued that the ongoing reorganisation of the police which has led to the redeployment of some officers was only targeted at favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the general elections.
PSC had approved the redeployment sequel to the recommendation of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, who announced the approval in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said that the commissioners of police were expected to proceed immediately to their new commands before the elections.
In the new exercise, Egbetokun Kayode whose earlier posting to Lagos State was aborted by the acting IG, was redeployed to Kwara State on Wednesday.
The FCT CP, Bala Ciroma, and his Ogun State counterpart, Ahmed Iliyasu, however, retained their positions, while Mu’azu Zubairu would take over from Edgal Imohimi in Lagos State.
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However, the opposition parties kicked against the development is a statement on Wednesday by its first national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, claiming that the police hierarchy first asked some APC leaders to name the commissioners, area commanders, divisional police officers, SARS commanders, Rapid Response Squad commanders and MOPOL commanders they wanted in their states.
He said, “The manipulation includes asking selected and designated leaders of the APC to choose the officers that will work with them. Unfortunately, the acting Inspector-General of Police (Mohammed Adamu) has succumbed to their ploy and is now taking instructions from a political party on police postings.”
Ugochinyere added, “The Presidency has deliberately kept him in an acting capacity to use his confirmation as a bait to get him to do their bidding. He is now completely at their beck and call and their usual line to him are, ‘we will talk to the President about your confirmation, that you really helped us.’
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“The entire security architecture of the elections has been put in grave danger and the people given the responsibility to provide security for lives and property are the same set of people jeopardising the security of the country.”
He further argued that the “politically tainted police postings” as an invitation to a bloody electoral crisis and therefore called for a reversal of the postings.
“The acting IG is set to among other politically tainted postings announce the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, a former CSO to Bola Tinubu, as the Kwara State CP.
“The APC wants to post Egbetokun to Kwara to ensure that votes do not count in the state and that Senator Bukola Saraki and the PDP must not win in Kwara even if the people vote for them.
“Where all the manipulated postings are not reversed, our resolution is that the Nigerian opposition will not be at the peace accord signing to validate and grant legitimacy to the grand violence module and rigging design of the APC.”
Meanwhile, APC’s national publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, denied influencing the commissioners of police postings and described the allegation by CUPP as laughable.
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