As the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, prepares to leave office next month after the expiration of his tenure, top contenders in the police hierarchy for the position of the IGP have emerged.
The IGP is due for retirement February 1, 2021 after 35years of service in the police.
A highly placed source in the police told LEADERSHIP that the next IGP will be picked among the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG).
The source said going by tradition, all the Deputy Inspector-General of Police may be retired as IGP retires from service next month.
According to the new Police Act 2020, Part III Section 2, says, ‘’The person to be appointed to the rank of the Inspector-General of Police shall be a senior police officer not below the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police with requisite academic qualification of not less than a first degree or its equivalent in addition to professional and management experience.’’
Top among the contenders for the job of the number one police officer in the country is Mr. Moses Ambakina Jitoboh, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, who is also the most senior among the AIGs.
As February 1st draws closer, top police officers are said to be working hard to get the number one police job in the country.
The source said no doubt, some senior officers in the rank of Deputy
Inspector-General of Police (DIG) and Assistant Inspector-General of
Police (AIG) may leave with the IGP on February 1, or soon after.
It was also gathered that none of those on the rank of DIG has up to
four years before retirement to be able to complete a full tenure as IGP
as stipulated by the new police act 2020.
Mr. Dan-Mallam Mohammed, Usman Alkali Baba and Sanusi Lemu are some of
the DIGs who have about two years left in service.
Two of those on the rank of AIGs Mr. Dasuki Danbappa Galadanchi and Mr. Hafiz Mohammed Inuwa, have four more years to go in the service. They are expected to retire in 2025.
Jitoboh was last month appointed to supervise police’s Research and
Development Department from his substantive post of AIG in charge of
Border Patrol.
LEADERSHIP also learnt that Mr. Jitoboh, who was a former Chief Personal Security Officer to former President Goodluck Jonathan, apart from being the most qualified among the AIGs, has about 10years to go in the service.
It was also gathered that the relationship of Jonathan with President Muhammadu Buhari, will go a long way as an added advantage for him to clinch the top police job.
The source said, ‘’The new Police Act 2020 says anybody who will be IGP
should be selected from officers not below the rank of AIG and you know
that in the past, the tradition has always been that the DIGs retires
with the IGP.
‘’I can confidently tell you that the odds favour Jitoboh, who has
worked in the Villa as CSO to a former President.
‘’He is from Bayelsa, Jonathan’s home state and you know that since
former IGP Solomon Arase left office, the country has not had an IGP from the southern part of the country.
‘’You know that the relationship between former President Jonathan and his successor is cordial and I can tell you authoritatively that
Jonathan is rooting for him to succeed Adamu.’’
The source said Jitoboh was a former Commissioner of Police in Adamawa state and was also in charge of FCIID, police planning and research
department among others.
IGP Adamu is expected to leave office next month after attaining the
mandatory retirement age from service.
Aside him, LEADERSHIP gathered that there are some other senior
police officers who are lobbying to succeed Adamu.
But a competent police source said most of those indicating interests forthe position have between two to three years left in the service.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to pick the new IG in
consultation with the Police Council.
