THE recent confirmation of  acting Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, as the substantive police boss in Nigeria after the tenure of Solomon Arase,  has given credence to the fact that a journey started well will end well. Prior to his confirmation, the compulsory retirement of twenty-one Assistant Inspectors -General of Police came later in time and gave rise to some public commentaries and or appeals that the officers who were seniors in appointment to Acting Inspector- General of police, should not be compulsorily retired in one fell swoop.

For reason aforesaid, it is necessary to look at the extant law relevant to the appointment of the Inspector- General of Police by the relevant authority  since the battle for the position had been fought, lost and won. There is no doubt that sweeping off from the Force, such number of very senior officers as was the case in the aftermath of Mr. Arase’s retirement,  is an economically and professionally gargantuan disaster.

The extant law on the appointment of the Inspector- General of Police is rooted in Sections 215 (1) (a) and 216 (2) of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution as amended. The Sections provide as follows: “Section 215 (1)(a) There shall be (a) an Inspector- General of Police who, subject to Section 216 (2) of this Constitution, shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force.”  While Section 216 (2) state as follows:- Before making any appointment to the office of the Inspector- General of Police or removing him from office- the President shall consult the Nigeria Police Council.”

From the above provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the President can appoint any Police Officer as the Inspector -General of Police without observing their seniority in rank or appointment. This is because Section 215 (1)(a) only requires the President to make the appointment “from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force.”  By aforesaid reason/provision the President can decide to appoint a Commissioner of Police as the Inspector General of Police or even a Deputy Commissioner of Police as the Inspector General of Police, provided he consults the Nigeria Police Council.

Recall that because the appointment of the Controller General of Customs is not regulated by the 1999 Constitution, the President appointed a Retired Army Colonel as the Controller General of the Nigerian Custom Service. Also, by the tradition of the Military and Paramilitary organisations in Nigeria, and for the maintenance of discipline, when a junior in rank or appointment is promoted over and above his seniors, those seniors he superseded normally threw in the towel or are compulsorily retired from service. This military tradition, I submit is in conformity with what is called in Constitutional Law the Conventions of the Constitution. By which we mean an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state or put in another way of doing things which over a period of time has assumed the force of law.

Therefore, having appointed a junior to the rank of Inspector- General of Police, all officers senior to him are usually eased out of service by voluntary / compulsory retirement. This is despite the statutory flavour doctrine in employment law. But prior to the introduction of the Presidential system of government in Nigeria by the 1979 Constitution, under the Republican Constitution of 1963, the appointment of the Inspector- General of Police was the function of the Police Service Commission, by virtue of Section 110 (2) of the 1963 Republican Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The said Section 110 (2) provided as follows:

Before making any appointment to the office of Inspector- General of the Nigeria Police or removing the Inspector- General of Police from office, the Police Service Commission of the Federation shall consult the Prime Minister, and before making any appointment to the office of the Commissioner of Police of a Region or removing the Commissioner from office the Commission shall consult the Premier of that region. ” At that time, the Police Force had only one Deputy Inspector -General who was next in rank to the Inspector- General of Police. The Police Service Commission never had any difficulty in appointing an Inspector- General of Police who invariably was the only Deputy Inspector -General of Police.

The above was the position with regards to the appointment of the Inspector -General of Police. However, during the military interregnum of 1966 to 1979, the Republican Constitution of 1963 was put in abeyance and the military appointed and removed the Inspector- General of Police at the whims and caprices of the Military Head of State. By virtue of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended the appointment of Acting Inspector- General of Police, Ibrahim Idris cannot be faulted.

Since the return of democratic rule, the government had twice set up what was called Police Reform Panels. The first was headed by M. D. Yusuf, a retired IGP (now of blessed memory), and the most recent was headed by Mr. Parry Osayande, a retired Deputy Inspector -General of Police and the immediate past Chairman of the Police Service Commission. The Osayande panel also discovered that the members of the Nigeria Police Force are the least paid of all the military and paramilitary services in the country. This is not good enough.

Part of the recommendations of both panels’ is that the most senior Deputy Inspector- General of Police should be appointed the Inspector- General of Police whenever the position becomes vacant. That recommendation did not fly and cannot fly without an amendment of relevant sections of the constitution.

Having attempted an analysis of the past and current laws on the appointment of the Inspector -General of Police, I seize this opportunity to congratulate the Inspector General of Police on his appointment as the Inspector General of Police of the most populous black nation in the world. All officers of the Nigeria Police Force (serving and retired) should support, pray and co-operate with the new Inspector General of Police to see that he succeeds in policing the country.

The federal government should also support him by properly funding the police.

The mounting criminality, sophistication in the commission of crime, the reopening of many closed murder cases call for adequate manpower, well trained, equipped and motivated officers and men.  It is also on record that Nigeria is still grossly under policed and falls below the United Nations ratio of 1 policeman to 400 persons; when a country like South Africa has surpassed the UN ratio.

According to the UN data South Africa’s citizen/police ratio is currently at 1 police officer to 347 citizens. Whereas Nigeria with a population of 177million (2016) figures has a ratio of 1 police officer to 442 citizens.  Over the years there had been no recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force save the ten thousand whose recruitment is ongoing. This is despite the fact that officers and men have been retiring, while others had died by natural causes and in service. These officers under normal circumstances need to be replaced.

For the Inspector -General of Police to perform optimally,  he should be properly empowered with the wherewithal for this purpose particularly, at this moment of increase in criminality and sophistication in crime commission. Before his retirement some years back as the Inspector -General of Police and after his visit to South Africa, Mr. Sunday Ehindero,  in 2009 disclosed that the South African Police Service had over 5,000 armoured personnel carriers (APC’s) while the Nigeria Police Force had less than 20 APC’s all of which were bought during the regime of Shehu Shagari between 1979 and 1983. The government should be able to provide the Nigeria Police Force with good (APC’s) that are fireproof, bulletproof and bombproof.

In addition to the above shortcomings, the Nigeria Police are grossly under-armed. In this regard, we once again refer to the United Nation standard which is that for every ten (10) policemen, eight (8) must be armed. But in Nigeria, out of ten (10) policemen, only two (2) are armed. When Mike Okiro was the Inspector- General of Police, he once lamented that “there is a shortage of arms now because when you send out six policemen, only two are armed. When robbers come, they target those who are armed and the rest are helpless.”

One can write a book on the inadequacies confronting the Nigeria Police Force that militates against their optimal performance and needed to be addressed. It is only hoped that the President Mohammed Buhari administration will rise up to providing the necessaries for the Inspector- General of Police to give his best in policing the nation.

Sir Sebastian Barth Ozoana (JP), is a retired Police Officer and Senior Lawyer who over time had defended the Nigeria Police Force in various courts/tribunals in Nigeria and is versatile in crime/security matters.

Mr. Sabastine Ozoaniis a retired Police Officer.