Should IGP Idris go?

The controversy over whether the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris should go or remain just few weeks to the nation’s general elections is borne out more of sentiments than sincerity of purpose. In such critical moments that national decisive events like elections are approaching, people engage in desperate fault-finding over issues that would have been non-issue at normal times. Nigerian politicians are, on their own, quarrelsome, vindictive and pessimistic.

The IGP’s case is a matter of concern in reality. His tenure has ended. As the civil service rule stipulates, public servant must retire after 35 years of service or at the attainment of the age of 60. Idris was appointed by President Buhari on March 21, 2016. He replaced Solomon Arase, who retired from the Nigeria Police Force on June 21, 2016 after reaching statutory age of 60. The guidelines in the Nigeria Police Service Commission stipulate that an IGP is entitled to a pre-retirement leave before clocking age 60. Idris clocked 60 on Monday January 14, 2019.

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The truth is that he was appointed by Buhari as enshrined in the Nigerians constitution, not out of personal volition. The same constitution gives the president the right of dismissal on very concrete grounds or even extension of tenure. I do not know why this controversy is rising. I have seen President Buhari extend the tenures of many appointees in his government some of who were appointed by the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the eve of handover in 2015.

PDP has remained the greatest beneficiary of the Buhari-led government which retained most of the appointees by the PDP government. That fact being as it is, it cannot be refuted that the tenure extensions of all the appointees by the president is basically on merit or national interest. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo extended the tenure of Sunday Ehindero as IGP by twelve months. Former President Umaru Yar’Ardua extended the tenure of Mike Okiro as IGP. So, why have the opposition found it as a national quagmire? Why did the PDP and other opposition parties plan to stage a protest to demand Idris’ retirement?

Is the extension of IGP’s tenure in Nigeria a novel happening? The question is: Why are they trying to influence Buhari’s decision. Two things come to fore in this connection. Extension of tenure can be on merit. Merit here refers to the performance of the appointee which demands that more time is granted him or her to conclude national activities at hand. Yes, there are actions that are like perishable goods. There are others that need time to actualise. In all the cases, the actions must be to achieve desired goals. On the other hand, every new appointee requires time to perfect the mastery of the new environment, more so when the environment is as large as the Nigerian landscape.

Provision of security to nearly 200 million people is not a child’s joke. It is more than paper work. It is more than a one day arrangement. It is not what a new appointee can just takeover and fully take control of. Nigerians, being a very hard species of mankind, the job of security leaderships is very taxing, risky and also very diplomatically confrontational.

 Muhammad Ajah,

Abuja.