…IGP Idris manipulated his retirement age, says Misau***

Lawmaker representing the Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Isa Misau, on Wednesday open a can of worms on the crisis between him and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, saying  the IG gave two Sports Utility Vehicles to the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari.

Misau made more allegations when he appeared before the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Investigation of Various Allegations Levelled Against the Police, the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission.

According to Misau, details of how Idris gave Mrs. Buhari the two SUV were contained in the documents the police boss submitted to court in the suit instituted against him by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, on behalf of the Federal Government.

He said, “I still have some contract papers that the IG himself submitted to the court, where the First Lady through her aide-de-camp requested a Toyota Hiace and a Sienna jeep. The same day that the ADC wrote, the IG minuted that she should be given two jeeps. And it is not part of the appropriation. If you look at the appropriation, there is nowhere they said the First Lady should be given two jeeps.”

Members of the panel, however, asked Misau to clarify who the “First Lady” was as she could be wife of the president or a governor.

The lawmaker replied, “The letter came from the ADC to the wife of the President. The most unfortunate thing is that even in the letter, the ADC wrote that they wanted the vehicles for her private engagements; they wrote that they wanted Sienna and Hiace and the IG said they should be given two jeeps. And he supplied the document to the court.”

When contacted on the telephone, the Director of Information to the Wife of the President, Suleiman Haruna, said he had no information on the matter at the time.

He promised to make enquiries and get back to our correspondent.

Haruna has yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

The IG also did not respond to an SMS inquiring about his alleged donation of two jeeps to Mrs. Aisha Buhari.

Misau also criticised the leadership of the Lagos State Police Command as an example of how the IG was allegedly involved in favouritism. He alleged that the current Acting Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, was posted to Lagos State because he  was a classmate to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

He said, “There is a lot of favouritism in the promotion and appointment of Commissioners of Police. Junior Deputy Commissioners of Police are given Commissioner of Police on acting capacity as against seniority and merit, thereby blocking eligible candidates.

“A recent example is the present CP Lagos, who is a junior DCP to two other DCPs, but was given Acting CP and posted to Lagos. These acts of favouritism have eroded discipline in the force, which is the backbone of any successful organisation.

“The reason why they took him to Lagos was because he is a friend to the Governor of Lagos State because they were in school together or because they studied a course together.”

He added, “The IGP posted a Commissioner of Police who for the past 17 years has not worked or served in a police formation to take charge of a state. This officer, who was a former Police ADC to the late former Governor (Diepreye) Alamiesiegha and also served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, is now the Commissioner of Police, Adamawa State.

Misau further alleged that the retirement date of the Police boss had been manipulated.

“The expected date of retirement of the IGP was fraudulently doctored on the Staff List of Senior Police Officers from 3rd January to 15th January, 2019,” he said.

Misau added, “I have a copy of the Staff List of when he became IG and I have another one of when he was an Assistant Commissioner of Police, which show that the dates are different.”

The lawmaker also accused Idris of awarding contracts worth over N2bn to a   Peugeot car dealer to acquire Toyota cars.

He said, “In the papers the IG submitted to the court, I saw one Kaura Motors. Kaura Motors deals in Peugeot cars but the same day he was given two contracts: one of them is N1.2bn, the other one is about N1.5bn, to supply Toyota vehicles. How can you give a contract to somebody who is a dealer in Peugeot to supply Toyota?”

The senator also made reference to an earlier probe of the IG by the House of Representatives, which indicted the Police boss for alleged diversion of funds in the 2016 budget of the security outfit.

He said, “The IGP is alleged to have diverted the funds provided under the 2016 Appropriations Act for the acquisition of Armoured Personnel Carriers to purchase of luxury cars without virement; and that he essentially runs the police like a personal property by applying police resources and valuable assets to personal use by his children and close associates.”

The senator buttressed his earlier allegation that the police under Idris’ leadership were being paid for security services to organisations and individuals.

“It is not a flat rate. Even here in the National Assembly, a lot of senators are paying police under the ‘SPU;’ even in the National Assembly, when senators are travelling, they apply and they are told to pay (an officer) maybe N5,000 per day. People pay; it is an open secret,” he said.

Misau urged the panel to ask the Central Bank of Nigeria to furnish it with the statement of a “GL Account,” which, according to him, is meant for bank managers from where they draw money to run their branches.

“You will see the kind of money they are paying every month from that account,” he said.

He added, “Apart from that, the CBN Governor (Dr. Godwin Emefiele) around June and July of this year directed all commercial banks to give money to police in hundreds of millions – every commercial bank. That money runs into billions.”

But attempt to speak with Acting Director of Communication at CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, on this allegation proved abortive, as calls to his mobile number rang out.

Misau told the lawmakers that he had had a cordial relationship with Idris.

“All of a sudden, for the IG to start saying that I am a deserter; he just took it personal because of incompetence, because he does not know how to handle the situation. I don’t have any issue with the IG,” he said.

However, the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, could not be reached for comment as he did not respond to calls and SMS.

In the meantime, the Senator representing Bauchi Central, Isa Hamma Misau, yesterday  accused Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, of manipulating his retirement age.

Misau, who appeared before the Senate committee investigating the allegations against the IGP, told the panelists that the police boss employed  four civilians in his office with the salary of the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG).

He said the police boss engaged the services of a retired police officer to handle investigation as against the code and Act establishing the Police Force, adding that all investigative cases were supposed to be under the Deputy Inspector- General of Police, DIG in Area 10, Garki, Abuja and not a retired officer.

The eight- member ad-hoc committee has Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Francis Alimikhena ( Edo North) as chairman.

He said the expected date of retirement of the IGP was fraudulently doctored on the staff list of Senior Police Officers from 3rd January to 15th January, 2019.

Misau said: “Sometime in July 2017, I was in the office of Senator Baba Kaka, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business when a Daily Trust reporter sought my views on the information that policemen pay as much as N500,000 for Special Promotion.

“To verify this information, I called some serving police officers who confirmed to the three of us that the information was not only true, but that the amounts paid are up to N2,500,000, in addition to other information.

“I hereby forward for your consideration, the detailed terms of allegation against the Police the Inspector General of Police, 1GP and the Police Service Commission: Deployment of Policemen to Private Organisation: Between 50,000 to 100,000 policemen are routinely deployed by the Police to oil companies, oil servicing companies, banks, oil marketers, and private individuals etc, with regular payments made to the police.. While these monies are estimated to run intobillions monthly, they are however, unaccounted for.

“Today, the situation is so bad that businessmen with dubious characters and suspicious businesses now go about with full detachment of policemen and some with full convoy and blasting siren, especially in Lagos, Port Harcourt and other major cities in the country, thereby worsening the country’s policing ratio of 1 policeman to about 800 citizens as against the UN recommended ratio of 1 policeman to 400 citizens.

“Special Promotion Racketeering by the IGP and the Police Service Commission: The Police Service Commission whose main function is to recruit, train, discipline, promote and retire members of the Force, appear to have left its core mandate to indulge almost exclusively in promotion racketeering. When the IGP was appointed, 23 AIGs and above were compulsorily retired to enable him discharge his duty, showing clearly that special promotion is injustice, because it is an attempt to put junior officers above their seniors.

“Favouritism in Promotion/ Appointment of Police Commissioners: There is a lot of favouritism in the promotion/ appointment of Commissioners of Police. Junior Deputy Commissioners of Police are given Commissioner of police on acting capacity as against seniority and merit thereby blocking eligible candidates. A recent example is the present CP Lagos who is a junior DCP to two other DCPs, was now given acting CP and posted to Lagos. These acts of favouritism have eroded discipline in the Force which is the backbone of any successful organisation.

“Postings/Transfers: Transfers of Commissioners of police, State Mopol Commanders and Special Protection Unit Commanders are riddled in corruption. While there are Chief Superintendent of Police, CSPs with over 10 years’ experience. Out of 41 Mopol commanders, about 19 Mopol commanders are junior Superintendents of Police, (SP).

“It is so bad that instead of the Commissioners of Police in charge of units, like the Police Mobile Force, Special Protection Unit, the postings and transfers are effected in the office of the IGP because of special interest;

“It is alleged that a woman Assistant Commissioner of Police who is in charge of posting and transfer at the Force Headquarters, Abuja and is known to be close to the IGP, collects money for general postings and transfers, and this is verifiable through the ACP’s account details and those of her immediate subordinate  officers and men as the money collected are usually through bank transfers

“The 1GP posted a Commissioner of police who for the past 17 years has not worked/ served in a police formation to take charge of a state. This officer who was a former Police ADC to the late former Governor Alamiesiegha, and also served under former President Jonathan, is now the commissioner of Police, Adamawa state. Foisting such officer without operational experience has been a major setback to the current administration’s fight against criminality, especially the Boko Haram insurgency. This officer enjoyed special promotions three times to become a Commissioner of police while his mates are currently Chief Superintendents of Police (CSPs). Such level of operational inexperience is not only a risk to the officer himself, but also to his command and the state at large.

“Illegal Diversion of Fund By the 1GP: The IGP is alleged to have diverted the funds provided under the 2016 Appropriations Act for the acquisition of Armoured Personnel Carriers, (APC) to purchase of luxury cars without virement. And that he essentially runs the police like a personal property by applying police resources and valuable assets to personal use by his children and close associates.

“Use of Special Units to Undermine Legitimate Police Departments: The 1GP introduced a curious system where so many investigation units report directly to him. In addition to the above mentioned Units, others include IGP Response Team, IGP Monitoring Unit, and Special Investigation Panel, (SIP) which is inappropriately headed by a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police in contravention of Public Service Rules. It should be noted however that according to the police standard operation, all investigation and intelligence units are legally under the Force Criminal Investigation Department. The current situation has not only rendered the Deputy Inspector General’s office moribund, but also made the office, redundant.

“The Inspector General of Police is also in the habit of regularly withdrawing cases from the DIG Investigations / Intelligence and reassigned to junior officers loyal to him, thereby effectively undermining the Deputy Inspector General.

“Poor Attention to Personnel Welfare:  Attention is not paid to welfare and logistics need of officers and men, thereby causing low morale. The conditions in the Police Academy, Police barracks and Police Colleges are not only inhospitable but are also inhabitable. About four months ago, about 3000 policemen were deployed from 30 states to Maiduguri, Borno state for special duties, without logistics. To avoid paying the necessary allowances, signals were issued to convert the deployment to permanent transfer after three months special duty.”

Punch with additional report from Nation