Ahead of the start of the February 25 general election, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the tenure of the inspector general of police, Mr. Usman Baba.
The minister of police affairs, Mr. Mohammed Dingyadi, disclosed this after the meeting of the federal executive council held in Abuja yesterday.
The minister said Baba would not be retiring midway into the general election, as earlier expected, as his tenure had already been extended by Buhari.
The extension has thus ended speculations about the IGP’s likely retirement before the general election.
Appointed in acting capacity on April 6, 2021 and confirmed as substantive IGP in June 2021, Baba was expected to exit after clocking the mandatory retirement age of 60 years on March 1, 2023.
Dingyari however stated that the Police Act 2020 had changed the rules for the IG’s retirement.
“Let me say that by the provisions of the Police Act 2020, the IG is now supposed to have a kind of four-year period and Mr. President has already given him letter of appointment in that regard. So, the issue of IG going out during this election period does not arise,” he said.
The minister also reported that FEC approved a draft bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Police institutions, which he said would to give legal backing to the existing training institutions across the country and not to build new ones.
“It is worth it to note that as part of Mr. President’s reform of Nigeria Police ecosystem, the ministry is championing police reforms with the strong backing of the presidency, and stakeholders to address observed gaps in the training and retraining of police officers.
“They have rehabilitated and upgraded available police training institutions and facilities nationwide, tackled lack of funding to take care of the training institutions, and created a robust structure for effective management and administration of the institutions.
“In consideration of the above, the federal executive council has today (yesterday) graciously approved the draft bill for an act to establish Nigeria Police Force College Training Schools and Institutions to serve as centres for professional training of officers, Nigerian Police Force and other related matters,” he added.
