‘IG Has No Control over Police Posting, Discipline’

A retired Deputy Insp-ector-General of Police, Mr. Adedayo Adeoye yesterday said the office of the Inspector-General of Police has no exclusive power of discipline and posting of certain cadres of officers of the service. This differs from the position of the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, that such responsibilities were domiciled in the office of the inspector-general.

Okiro had said: "The Constitution in Section 21 5 (2) states that the operational control of police lies with the Inspector General of Police. In other words, the failure and success of the police is a yardstick for assessing the efficiency of the Inspector General of Police. Therefore, he should be given the responsibility of posting his men, especially the crucial post of Command Commissioners of Police, since no other person by appointment is presumed to know the Commissioners of Police better than the Inspector General of Police.

"Section 21 5 (!) (b) of the Constitution, states that the Commissioner of Police of each state in the Federation shall be appointed by the Police Service Commission. To ensure that honour or blame is given to whom it is due, the Police Service Commission should not post any police officer without the recommendation of the Inspector General of Police since the Inspector General of Police knows the capability of his men more than other authority in the Federation”.

But countering this, Adeoye said: "Okiro should not rewrite the Constitution. Those who wrote the Constitution knew what they were doing by establishing Police Service Commission as a watchdog to the Nigeria Police.”

Adeoye further argued that:  “If too much power is given to the IG, don't you think it would not be too good for the country? Too much power should not be concentrated on the IG alone so that the force and the nation entirely can forge ahead.”

He also said:  “There had never been anytime where the Police Service Commission Chairman would post Commissioners of Police outside the list compiled by the Inspector General and his team. The Chairman acts on the suggestion of the IG and offer necessary advice as the need arises. This is the normal way of running the affairs of the force, For this process to be altered, the Constitution has to change first," he added.

However, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Parry Osayande, submitted that: "There is no basis for argument or counter argument on this issue. The Constitution is very clear on it and I want to state categorically clear that if the Constitution states otherwise, we will comply, but it is not a matter of suggestion or advice. If there is any need for change, it has to be done through the Constitution.

"Since I resumed office as the Police Service Commission Chairman, all what we have been doing is to rubber-stamp. This I mean, any proposal given us so far, we have been rubber stamping it. The Inspector General of Police sends his proposal and we just rubber stamp it. I'm not arguing the fact the IG knows his men more than anyone else, what I'm saying now is that we take suggestions from the IG and approve it. We only serve as a monitoring unit to the police so as not to do things in excesses. We are their watch-dogs, we are not working against each other. Not until the Constitution is changed, nothing can be done about it", Osayande insisted.
ThisDay: From Yemi Akinsuyi in Abuja, 08.30.2009