By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), and former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. Solomon Arase, Tuesday, dissociated self and the Commission from the controversial publication on the appointment or otherwise of new IGP, by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Arase who was quoted as a source in the said report, said, the story is fictitious and obviously misleading.
The Commission’s Spokesperson, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement, said, the former IGP was not contacted over the acerbic and fictitious report, let alone, expressing the aforesaid opinion.
The statement reads in part, “The attention of the Police Service Commission has been drawn to a fictitious and obviously misleading story in the Vanguard of today, Tuesday, June 13, page 8, captioned “Uneasy calm in Police over Successor to IGP Baba”, where Commission Chairman, Dr. Solomon Arase, Former Inspector General of Police was quoted to have granted an interview to one Evelyn Usman, a crime correspondent of the Newspaper.
The Correspondent who supposedly interviewed some Civil Society Chieftains in respect of the story went further to claim that Dr. Arase expressed similar views on the matter even when he was not contacted at all. The story claimed that the PSC Chairman supports the views that any likely waiver by Mr. President to grant tenure extension to the Inspector General of Police would utterly undermine the law, the provisions of the Police Act, 2020 (amended), which provides in section 18(8) of the Police Act ” that every police officer shall on recruitment or appointment serve the Nigeria Police Force for a period of 35 years or until he attains the age of 60 years whichever comes first”.
That the Chairman is also in support that any such action could trigger avoidable tension within the system especially the Command structure of Police hierarchy, lower morale and disrupt the systematic movement of top officers in line with seniority and rank”.
The Commission, Mr. Ani, reiterated that its Chairman did not grant any interview to the said Evelyn Usman or direct any one to speak on his behalf on the issues raised above.
Dr. Arase, he further said, was a former Inspector General of Police, and as current Chairman of the Commission is a member of the Police Council and is aware of the channels of Communication as it relates to his advise/contribution in the appointment of an Inspector General of Police.
“His view on this matter has never been in doubt as he has always said that it is the prerogative of Mr. President to appoint an Inspector General of Police with the endorsement of the Police Council which the President Chairs,” he said.
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The Commission, Mr. Ani, said, demands a published retraction of this tendentious publication with apologies.
The Spokesperson however, noted that the Commission holds the Vanguard Newspaper in high esteem and wishes to express serious concern on this development.
He added that for avoidance of any doubt, the Commission restate that its Chairman never spoke to the said Evelyn Usman.
The statement said that Dr. Arase is and has always been a media person and had been available at short notices for media interviews, concluding that fabricating an interview and crediting stories to him is obviously in bad taste.
