Reports emanating from the Nigerian Police Council indicate that it may nominate a new Inspector-General of Police (IG) come February 2021.
It is not certain whether the tenure of the current Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, will be extended.
However, a number of unofficial sources disclose that his successor may well be announced soon.
The council is chaired by the President and encompasses the 36 state governors and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
The current Inspector-General of Police is expected to retire next month, by which time he would have attained 35 years in service.
Adamu, the 20th indigenous police head, is, however, pushing for a tenure extension so he can perfect some much needed police reforms.
Sources could not verify if his extension bid was successful.
They do note that the extension of the tenures of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede, and the Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Muhammadu Gana, by President Muhammadu Buhari, could bode well for Adamu’s extension bid.
The race for a new Inspector-General of Police is said to be heating up with state governors putting forward diferent candidates of their choice.
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No more than 20 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police are qualified for appointment as the next IG.
“The police council always meets confidentially to decide the next IG but a lot of people are already pushing for their candidates; the pressure is high but it is the President’s prerogative to select the IG.
“We have about 20 AIGs but most of them do not qualify under the new Police Act, which stipulates that a candidate for the office of the IG must have at least five years of service.
“We know that AIG Moses Jitiboh (former Chief Personal Security Officer to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan) still has over five years but they are trying to spoil his chances. Apart from him, about four other AIGs from the North also have good chances of being appointed,” sources within the Police confirm.
The Commissioner representing the media on the Police Service Commission board (PSC), Mr Austin Braimoh, has however pointed out that the police council is the body tasked with the appointment of the IG, not the commission.