Human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has described as
unconstitutional and nepotistic, the appointment of Usman Alkali Baba as acting
Inspector-General of Police.
Ozekhome stated this in a statement on Wednesday titled, ‘Buhari’s Northernisation Of The Nigeria Police
Force’.
Recall that the President, Muhammadu Buhari, through the Minister of Police Affairs,
Mohammad Dingyadi, had on Tuesday appointed Baba to succeed Mohammed Adamu.
Adamu, whose tenure ended in February after completion of
his mandatory 35 years of service, got a three-month extension by the President
but he had only spent about two months out of the three-month extension when he
was replaced.
Reacting, Ozekhome, who had earlier kicked against the
extension of the tenure of Adamu, said going by “paragraph 7 to the 3rd
Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the President cannot single-handedly appoint
an IGP, as he has again unconstitutionally and illegally done.
“He can only do so in conjunction with the Nigeria Police
Council comprising of Mr President as chairman, all the 36 state Governors, the
Chairman of the Police Service Commission and the IGP.
“Such an appointment
as just happened before the new Acting IGP is capricious, arbitrary, whimsical,
unconscionable, illegal, unlawful, wrongful and unconstitutional. It eulogises
strong men rather than strong institutions.
“Today, Buhari has again appointed DIG Usman Alkali Baba, a
Northern Muslim, as Acting Inspector General of Police, to replace Adamu
Mohammad, another Northern Muslim. With Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, another
Northern Muslim as the Minister of Police Affairs, the circle of policing in
Nigeria is complete.”
Continuing the human rights lawyer wrote, “By the way, can’t
President Muhammadu Buhari for once, just for once, in his opaque appointments
look beyond his religion and immediate and forsake sectionalism, cronyism,
prebendalism, tribalism, favouritism, and act as a true statesman?
“Is he truly saying he cannot trust any of the other over 15
million Nigerians who voted for him, or that he cannot find any of them that is
qualified to be made an IGP? I thought gleefully told Nigerians on 29th May,
2015, while taking his first oath of office, that he was for “everybody and for
nobody”? So, Buhari had actually deceived Nigerians and is desecrating his
solemn oath of office?
“Is Buhari telling Nigerians that under his governance,
Nigerians are indeed living in the Federal Republic of the North, or Northern
Republic of Nigeria, or Republic of Northern Nigeria, or Northern Nigeria
Republic, Republic of Northern Nigeria and Other Vassal States ? I can’t decode
Buhari’s defiant refusal to respect the Federal Character principle enshrined
in section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution. Or, can you?”
Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo
Worldwide, also condemned the appointment of Baba as IGP, saying the injustice
of the Federal Government under the Buhari regime was responsible for the growing
agitations and insecurity in the South-East.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com