On Wednesday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief Mike Ozekhome faulted President Buhari’s decision to appoint Usman Alkali Baba as Acting Inspector General of Police.
Ozekhome In a statement titled: “Buhari’s Northernisation of Nigeria Police” stated that Mr. President does not have the power to single handedly appoint an Inspector General of Police.
According to him, Buhari can only appoint an IGP in agreement with all the 36 state governors, the chairman of the Police Service Commission and the IGP.
He said:
“With Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, another northern Muslim as the minister of police affairs, the circle of policing in Nigeria is complete.
“Of course, Buhari controls the police by virtues of sections 214, 215 and 216 of the 1999 Constitution. It is the same situation with the ministry of petroleum resources and NNPC, the entire security architecture of Nigeria, and other key sectors and commanding heights of the economy.
“The illogical and puerile argument is always that the president only appoints people he can trust and that such persons are qualified in any event. That argument is insulting and insensitive to the intelligence, sensibilities and plurality of Nigeria.
“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?”
