The House of Representatives has unanimously asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the inspector general of police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris and appoint a more professional officer.
They made the call during plenary on Wednesday, accusing the police chief of failing in his duty.
The lawmakers had earlier considered a motion demanding the immediate removal of the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Jimoh Moshood, for making derogatory remarks against the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom.
According to the lawmakers, Moshood’s statements while appearing on Channels Television Programme, Sunrise Daily, where he demanded the resignation of the Benue state governor indicates the partisanship of the police.
Two motions of urgent national importance presented by two members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday culminated in the vote of no confidence on Idris.
The first was by Mark Gbillah, APC Benue titled ” Motion in the derogatory statement by the Police PRO against an executive Governor of a state and the seeming unwillingness of the Inspector General of Police to recognize and enforce a constitutionally enacted law by an executive arm of government,”
The second motion was by Abubarkar Danburam with the titled “motion on need to curb thuggery development in political activities in Kano and Nigeria in general,”
Gbillah’s motion chronicled the inability of the Police Boss to perform up to par in the wake of the killing of 73 indigenes of Benue state and the utterance of the IGP before a Senate committee that the Open Grazing Prohibition Law by the Benue State House of Assembly was responsible for the killings by Fulani Herdsmen and that the state government should scrap the law.
The motion also spoke of the alleged derogatory statement made by the Police Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, who called the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom “a drowning man” on television.
The lawmaker thereafter called on the IGP to apologize to the Benue State governor over the derogatory statement of the Police PRO and relieve him of his duties immediately, and to mandate the relevant committee to investigate the alleged statements made by the IGP’s and the implications to his ability to superintend the resolution of the killings in Benue and other parts of the country if found to be true.
His prayers were to invite the Idris and Kano State Commissioner of Police to give account of what happened in Kano State and to direct both of them to provide measures against thuggery in the state.
But this quickly changed when John Dyegh (APC Benue) moved an amendment that it was evident from the slant of arguments, discussions and presentation on the floor that members had lost confidence in the inspector- general of police. This, he said, should be one of the prayers of Danburam’s motion.
Consequently, the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara asked the members if that was what they wanted and they responded in the affirmative.
Subsequently, the House passed a vote of no confidence on the police chief.
