President Muhammadu Buhari may have appointed Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, Adamu Mohammed, as acting Inspector General of Police, investigation has shown.
Vanguard gathered last night that the appointment followed a meeting the President had with the outgoing IGP, Ibrahim Idris, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Efforts to confirm this from spokesman of the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, however, proved fruitless as he said he was not in a position to confirm the information.
Similarly, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity also said there was no official confirmation of the appointment.
But it was learned that the acting IGP was appointed by the President, in view of the retirement of the incumbent on January 3, 2019, when he clocked the mandatory 35 years in service. He will be 60 years today.
AIG Abubakar Adamu Mohammed hails from Lafia in Nasarawa State. He was brought from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS.
He was former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State and has also served at the Interpol and the FCIID, Alagbon for some years before he was promoted to the rank of AIG.
The retirement of the outgoing IGP has generated controversies as opinions of stakeholders in the polity had been mixed.
While some wanted him retained as the 2019 elections draw nearer, others contended that he should not be allowed to superintend the polls due to the controversies that had dogged his activities in office.
Meanwhile, the President met behind closed doors with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Monday.
The meeting started around 4.30p.m when the President returned from a function organised by the Sultan of Sokoto’s Foundation for girl child education at the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja.
Recall that President Buhari had met with the IGP, on Friday, January 4, 2019, shortly after the Jumma’at prayer at the State House mosque.
The IGP was appointed by President Buhari on March 21, 2016, to replace Solomon Arase, who retired from the police force on 21 June 21, 2016.
He was enlisted into the Nigerian Police Force in 1984, after graduating from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture.
He left the State House about 5:10pm and the agenda of his meeting with the president was not made public at the time of filing this report.
There was however anxiety at the Police High Command, Abuja, Monday, over the fate of the seven Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, if the new Mohammed, who is lower in rank, assumes office tomorrow.
The affected DIGs are: DIG Joshak Habila, in-charge of the Department of Operations; DIG Maigari Abatti Dikko who heads the Department of Logistics and Supply; DIG H.M Dagala, of the Department of Criminal Intelligence and Investigations and DIG Emmanuel T. Inyang who is in-charge of the Department of Training and Development.
Others are DIG Shuaibu Gambo, who heads the Department of Finance and Administration; DIG Ntom Chukwu, of the Department of Research and Planning and DIG Foluso Adebanjo, in- charge of the Department of Information and Communication Technology.
