Nearly a week after expiration of his tenure, IGP still hasn’t stepped down
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris is yet to retire from his position as the police chief after he completed the mandatory 35 years of service on January 3, 2019.
He was expected to step down at the beginning of this year, having joined the police on January 3, 1984. But it seems like earlier speculations which revealed that the president was trying to extend his tenure till the elections are over might have some credence.
Idris was appointed on March 21, 2016 to replace former IGP, Solomon Arase who was due for retirement in June of that year.
Although there’s no official confirmation of any extension of Idris’ tenure, President Buhari disclosed in an interview on Arise TV that he was being careful with disbanding the current crop of security chiefs.
“I am measuring the options critically. When you have a case of emergency, if you don’t wait for an appropriate time to do it, then you create competition within the service. There are so many ambitious people waiting… only one man can be the inspector-general of police,” President Buhari said.
The IGP who seems undeterred by the tension that his action was generating among the ranks of the police reportedly resumed work at the Police Headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
Critics of Buhari’s administration have accused the president of retaining the IGP beyond his tenure in order to use him to sway the election to APC’s advantage.
The president’s supporters dismissed the claims. And Buhari who agreed that the performance of the security chiefs has been poor said that he will take action on the matter soon.
