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Tag: Okiro

  • I cannot pre-empt Mbu’s probe report, says Okiro

    I cannot pre-empt Mbu’s probe report, says Okiro

    Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Sir Mike Okiro said yesterday that he would not pre-empt the report of the probe of the outgoing Rivers State Commissioner, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    Mbu’s activities in Rivers are being probed by the PSC.

    Okiro, speaking at the Police College, Ikeja during the pull-out of two Assistant Inspector Generals (AIGs) and five Commissioners (CP), from the force described Mbu’s redeployment as normal.

    Relationship between Mbu and Governor Rotimi Amaechi was turbulent for much of the CP’s stay in the state following his alleged partiality towards the governor’s political opponents.

    The governor and many other Nigerians and groups had called for his deployment from the state on account of his role in the political crisis in the state which has pitched the governor against President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience.

    Police Inspector General Muhammed Abubakar and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently set up separate panels to probe last month’s shooting of Senator Magnus Abe allegedly by policemen at a rally at Bori,Rivers State.

    Twenty two other Commissioners of and Deputy Commissioner were affected by the recent redeployment in the police.

    Okiro also spoke on the planned salary structure for policemen.

    He said: “During my days, two years, six months, two, police commissioners and other senior officers were being redeployed. So there is nothing new in the redeployment of Mbu”, Okiro said.

    “I am aware of the growing demand for improved welfare for the police, especially the salary but how much to be paid is not for me to decide.”

    The Inspector General who was the special gust of honour at the event also said that Mbu’s redeployment was normal.

    On the 2015 elections , he said that policemen are currently undergoing training in Gwazo,Borno |State and Pakistan.

  • Osun more peaceful than many states in Nigeria – Okiro

    Osun more peaceful than many states in Nigeria – Okiro

    The former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, has described Osun as a more peaceful and secure state than many others in the country.

    Okiro, who is the current Chairman of the Police Service Commission, was on tour of the police formations in the state and paid a courtesy visit to the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in his office in Osogbo, the state capital, on Friday.

    The former IGP was accompanied on the trip by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 11, David Omojola and the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Dorothy Gimba.

    Speaking further on the security situation in the state, Okiro said Osun has the lowest crime rate in the country.

    He noted that the state security profile has made it attractive to many investors.

    He said the influx of people and investors to Osun was as a result to the security guarantee in the state, saying the security agencies in the state are doing very well in protecting people, lives, properties and investments.

    Okiro stated that he did not get any report of security breach throughout his stay in the state.

     

     

  • Okiro, Kalu, Ifijeh, others mourn art enthusiast Mrs Odigie

    Okiro, Kalu, Ifijeh, others mourn art enthusiast Mrs Odigie

    Former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, and former Electoral Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Philips Umeadi, were among mourners at the funeral rites held in Abuja for art enthusiast, Mrs. Jane Ihuoma Odigie.

    Many were pained by her hasty departure; they were, however, consoled by testimonies to the effect that she did not just live a pious life; she was also affable, humane and generous.

    The mother of three and wife of Abuja-based businessman and Chief Executive Officer, Bedding Holdings Limited, Chief (Dr.) Sylvester Odigie, succumbed to cancer on November 4 at the age of 40 after battling the ailment for five years.

    The funeral rites began on December 5 with a service-of-songs held at Holy Trinity Church, Maitama and ended the next day with her interment at the Gudu Cemetery, Abuja.

    The interment was preceded by a requiem mass held earlier in the day at the Maitama church where the officiating priest, Reverend Father Justin Onyemaechi, reminded all that death was inevitable.

    “Even though our dear sister has passed on at a tender age, it is not a death in vain, but a death that merits reward. From all testimonies, it is obvious she lived a good life and that everyone loved her. This is a clarion call to all of us here to always be prepared and move closer to God. We never know when the time will come,” he said.

    Some of her beautifully created paintings adorned a page of the brochure containing events schedule. She was a graduate of Graphic Arts from the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

    As the priest brought the mass to a close, the pallbearers moved the brown coffin into a hearse parked by the church’s entrance. And in no time, Mrs Odigie commenced the last lap of her final journey as the hearse moved out of the church premises,  and headed for the Gudu Cemetery.

    At the grave side, Rev. Onyemaechi said some prayers. But as her remains were being lowered into the grave, and the deceased’s little children performed the dust-to-dust rite, many succumbed to emotion and wept.

    Mrs. Nwangwu, the deceased’s mother, who is in her early 60s, wept uncontrollably as she watched her first child being interred.

    Also in attendance were the Editor-in-Chief, The Nation newspapers, Victor Ifijeh; Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Marvel Akpoyibo; former Managing Director of the now defunct Fortune Bank, Fidelis Tilije; and Austin Odili.

    The widower described her wife as a wonderful person and a loving companion who had left a void no one could fill.

    “My dear wife was not only a wonderful wife, but she was a meticulous housekeeper and homemaker. She was a cheerful, friendly person who made many friends. She seldom criticized any person.  Instead, she preferred to refer to their good qualities.

    “She was the soul and heart of honesty. She would never shade the truth no matter what consequences. Everyone loved her. She was special, very special. She carried a very special charm and friendly personality that so easily endeared her to people. Even while she was undergoing treatment in Germany, she made both young and old friends. Most importantly, she loved her church, and was faithful to her allotted task,” he said.

  • Ribadu to Okiro: I did not aspire to be IGP

    Ribadu to Okiro: I did not aspire to be IGP

    A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, on Wednesday said he did not at anytime aspire to be the Inspector-General of Police while in office.

    He faulted an allegation by a former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, that he was desperate to use his position as EFCC chairman to be the nation’s police chief.

    Ribadu, who made the clarification in a statement through his spokesman, Mallam Adularia Abdulaziz, insisted that ex-Governor James Ibori was instrumental to Okiro’s appointment as IGP.

    He said an influential former governor from North-Central and a couple of other people helped to facilitate Okiro’s selection by Ibori as IGP.

    The statement said, “Our attention has been drawn to the shameless lies a former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro recklessly spewed to the media yesterday. The cause of Mr. Okiro’s anger, the statement, in a London court, by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu that James Ibori was instrumental to his emergence as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) needs no further equivocation as it was an open secret to everybody in the government circle then.

    “If Okiro is now denying this in public, there is no way he can deny this open secret to a number of people including an influential governor from the North-Central then, and a couple of other people who helped facilitate his selection by Ibori.

    “It was this same shameless method of desperate lobbying that Okiro, a chronic political jobber and sycophant of the first order would use in getting subsequent appointments as Chief Security Officer to the PDP national chairman and later, regrettably, as the chairman of the Police Service Commission.

    “The assertion by Okiro that Ribadu wanted to be the IGP further underlines the former IGP as a perennial peddler of falsehood.

    “The truth is Nuhu Ribadu’s focus then was consolidating on his modest efforts at the EFCC, especially at a time when he was working on high-profile cases, including that of Okiro’s godfather, James Ibori.

    “We therefore challenge Okiro to name those people he called Ribadu’s friends that narrated the fictitious story of Ribadu’s interest in becoming the IGP to him.”

    Contrary to Okiro’s claim, Ribadu said he has evidence to show that an assassination attempt was made on his life.

    He added: “The highest distortion in Okiro’s statement, however, is his attempt to rewrite the well-known and widely documented assassination attempts on the former EFCC chairman, and Okiro’s hands in it all.

    “It is ridiculous that Okiro is now desperately trying to paint himself in another colour after all the scheming he orchestrated. It beats our imagination that Okiro would want a Nuhu Ribadu he was fighting to destroy to report those incidences to him. It would have been a case of having a culprit to be a judge in his own case.

    “At the time, the trio of Michael Aondoakaa, the former Attorney General of the Federation, Okiro and Mrs. Farida Waziri, the former EFCC chairman, had created a hell out of the world for Ribadu. The only sensible thing to do was to avoid these characters and seek solace somewhere else. This notwithstanding, it is a blatant lie that Okiro telephoned Ribadu ‘several times’ but that he did not answer his calls.”

     

  • Okiro as PSC boss

    Okiro as PSC boss

    Since his appointment is unfortunately a fait accompli, we expect him to rise up to the challenge

    Senate President David Mark made the appropriate remark when he asked the chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Nwagwu, what he thought former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mike Okiro could do to improve the police force as a Police Service Commission (PSC) boss, that he had no opportunity of doing when he was IGP. This should be the spirit; unfortunately, the Senate eventually confirmed Okiro’s appointment for the police service commission without satisfactorily answering this question. Okiro was IGP from 2007 to 2009.

    President Goodluck Jonathan had in May forwarded the names of nominees of the seven-member PSC to the Senate for consideration, and the Senate, in turn, referred the matter to its committee on police affairs for screening. Five other nominees, namely the retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed representing North West Zone; Hon. Justice Olufunke Adekeye (South West); Aisha Larai Tukur (North East); Mrs. Comfort Obi (South East) and Chief Torngee Gem Toranyiin (North Central) were also confirmed as members of the commission. The only person whose nomination was rejected by the Senate was Dr Otive Igbuzor, a human rights activist representing the South South geo-political zone.

    From proceedings at the screening, it would appear that the senators were swayed by Nwagwu’s assertion that Okiro would bring his experience to bear on the commission whereas they should have been more persuaded by Senator Mark’s question that they left unanswered. When we talk of experience, we talk of it as if it is something esoteric. The point is; it is not a question of how long but how well. If therefore we are talking of experience, we should be talking in the context of the value that a person in position of authority added to the system while in office.

    We wonder why our senators behave this way when it comes to confirming appointments into very important positions and institutions. Sadly, such shoddy manner of ratifying appointments did not start with Okiro, it has been like that for long and it is part of the reasons why Nigerians have not felt the impact of the democratic government as they should in the last 14 years. It could not have been better when senators merely ask people who should have been thoroughly grilled for public offices to ‘take a bow and leave’.

    In the case of Mr. Okiro, there are sundry allegations, some bordering on corruption. Not only that, contrary to constitutional provisions that a member of certain bodies, including the PSC, “shall not be required to belong to a political party,” it cannot be denied that Okiro is a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), having once sought the party’s senatorial ticket for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Moreover, he had chaired the security committee at the party’s convention and is also a former security adviser to the PDP national chairman. Given these foggy circumstances, and perhaps more that we cannot recollect immediately, we would have expected the Senate to grill him to determine his qualification, both in character and in competence, for the position of PSC chairman.

    However, now that President Jonathan has characteristically foisted Mr. Okiro on the nation, in cahoots with the Senate, the least we can do is to admonish him not to repeat his lackluster performance as inspector-general in the PSC. The police need at this point in time not an establishment man but someone who is pragmatic, full of ideas and is ready to run the commission in a business unusual manner. There are so many challenges besetting the police and, considering the security issues we presently have in the country, only a proactive police service commission that is ready to break completely from the past can bring about the needed changes in the police force.

  • Flush out bad eggs in police – Jonathan

    Flush out bad eggs in police – Jonathan

    Worried by the high level of indiscipline in the Nigeria Police Force, President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday charged the Police Service Commission (PSC) to leave no stone unturned in the efforts to flush out the bad eggs in the system.

    Speaking at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after swearing-in the new PSC Chairman, Mike Okiro and five other members, President Jonathan urged the commission to instill discipline in the force and ensure promotions are done purely on merit.

    According to him, he was under pressure to sack police officers from the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police to the top over the 2011 bombing of the Police Force Headquarters by the Boko Haram sect.

    He pointed out that indiscipline and irregularities in staff promotion exercises are also rampant in other military and para-military services, which have been adversely affecting their performances.

    Recalling the recent screening and review process of six candidates for the post of the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), he declared that most of them do not merit the position but deserved to be sacked from the service.

    He said: “But I believe there are two things, one is the issue of discipline, and so one of the responsibilities of the Police Service Commission is to instill discipline. Another thing I believe is that people who do not merit certain ranks are being promoted to those ranks. One of your responsibilities is to handle promotion. I believe with you only those who merit or deserve promotion should be promoted.”

     

  • Senate confirms Okiro as police commission chief

    Senate confirms Okiro as police commission chief

    There was drama in the Senate on Tuesday as the upper chamber confirmed former Inspector- General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, as chairman, Police Service Commission.

    Curiously, the lawmakers rejected the nomination of former Action Aide boss, Dr. Otive Igbuzor despite stringent effort by Senator Babafemi Ojudu to ensure that Igbuzor was confirmed.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Paulinus Igwe, presented the report of the screening of those nominated by President Goodluck Jonathan to serve in the commission.

    They included Mr. Okiro, Chairman, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed (DIG rtd,) (Katsina State) to represent North West, Hon. Justice Olufunke Adekeye (rtd) (Ogun State) to represent South West, Aisha Larai Tukur (Taraba State) to represent North East, Mrs. Comfort Obi (Imo State) to represent South East, Chief Torngee Gem Toranyiin (Benue State) to represent North Central) and Dr. Otive Igbuzor (Delta State) to represent South South zone.

    Though some senators applauded the report, Senate President, David Mark, wondered why there was no representation for the youths among the nominees.

    Mark noted that the Act of the commission specified that the youths should be represented in the commission.

    Senator Ayogu Eze said that Igbuzor who was to serve his second term in the commission represented the youths when he was first nominated in the Sixth Senate.

    Mark also wanted to know what new thing Okiro whom the screening committee rated high would do that he did not do when he was the IGP.

    He wanted to know how Okiro would improve the police force as the committee claimed in its report.

    Igwe explained that the committee believed that Okiro’s position as a former IGP has equipped him to serve better as Chairman of the commission.

    Senator Zainab Kure observed that the dates some of the nominees obtained their qualifications were not captured in the report.

     

  • Jonathan nominates Nnamani, Okiro, Obi, others for board appointments

    Jonathan nominates Nnamani, Okiro, Obi, others for board appointments

    FORMER Senate President Ken Nnamani and ex-Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mike Okiro are among those, whose names were sent yesterday by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Senate for clearance for appointments into federal boards.

    Also nominated was Justice K.M.O. Kekere-Ekun for confirmation as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

    Nnamani was nominated to chair the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and Okiro to head the Police Service Commission (PSC).

    Other nominees include: Aminu Dikko from Kaduna (representing the Northwest zone) as the Director -General of the ICRC; Mrs Comfort Saro-Wiwa from Rivers State (Southsouth); Janet Febisola Adeyemi from Ondo (Southwest); Mrs Yabawa Wabi from Bornu (North east); Musa Elayo Nasarawa (Northcentral) and A.U. Kanu Abia (Southeast), all members of the ICRC.

    Other nominees into the PSC board are: retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Yakubu Mohammed (Northwest); retired Justice Olufunke Adekeye (Osun); Aisha Larai Tukur (Taraba); Mrs Comfort Obi (Imo); Chief Torngee Gem Toranyiin (Benue); and Dr Otive Ogbuzor (Delta).

    The President Jonathan also wrote to withdraw the nomination of Mr Adesoji Olaoba Efuntayo as the Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Efuntayo was replaced with Mr. Emmanuel Adegboyega Aremo (Southwest).

    He urged the upper chamber of the National Assembly to confirm the nomination of Mr. Adulphus Joe Ekpe as the Director-General of the National Lottery Commission (NLC).

  • Aregbesola, Okiro disagree over state police

    Aregbesola, Okiro disagree over state police

    •Falana, Oyebode decry lopsided federalism

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and former Police Inspector-General Mike Okiro yesterday disagreed over the necessity for state police as an essential element of true federalism.

    Aregbesola, who called for devolution of powers, decried the lack of control over the police by the state chief security officers. Okiro, who canvassed devolution of police control to the Deputy Inspectors-General, said state police would be abused by governors.

    However, Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), Prof. Akin Oyebode and Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje said that true federalism would remain an illusion in the absence of state police.

    The Osun State governor and Okiro spoke at a debate on the policing system held in Lagos. The theme of the discussion organised by MC Connect, a public relations firm, is: “State police: To be or not to be”.

    Other speakers at the event, which was held at the Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan were Dr. Tam George and Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Mr. Onyekachi Ubani and a social commentator Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje.

    Aregbesola, who was represented by his Commissioner for Physical Planning, Muyiwa Ige, described state police as a lingering issue that had troubled Nigeria’s federalism. He said the federal police had been repeatedly used for election rigging, repression of opposition and quelling legitimate protests.

    He claimed that, if law making, agriculture, education and health are enshrined in the Concurrent List, governors who receive security votes monthly should have control over the police.

    Dismissing the fear of likely abuse of state police by governors as baseless, Aregbesola pointed out that the federal police is also susceptible to abuse.

    The governor canvassed community policing, stressing that it is unhelpful to draft people from several kilometres away to police a given environment.

    He said: “It is wrong for commissioners of police to decline the directives of governors and invade his territory with mobile policemen. In the United States, there is the Federal Bureau of Information (FBI), but there are state, local government and even police on the campuses. State police is good for federalism”.

    But Okiro, who retired in 2009, disagreed with the governor, emphasising that it is premature to establish state police because governors would abuse the security agency.

    He also said that states lack adequate resources to fund state police because they depend on federal allocations for survival. Okiro also said that community police would throw up indigenes in the police who would be used to oppress non-indigenes.

    Okiro favoured the decentralisation of police, but suggested that police powers should be devolved to the DIGs.

    The former Inspector-General said: “Some lingering constitutional issues should be settled first before creating state police. Governors are fighting for absolute control of police to coerce opponents to dance to their will. If we don’t have effective federal police, we cannot have effective state police.

    “Desperation for power, when it is not moderated, creates insecurity. Governors who wake up one morning, suspend council chairmen and councillors and appoint their stooges will do worse things, if there is state police.”

    Dr. George, who supported Okiro’s view, said governors were clamouring for autonomy from the centre which they are reluctant to give to the local governments.

    Falana, however, objected to the former Inspector-General’s position, stressing that decentralisation of the police is a key element of federalism.

    Dismissing the fear of likely abuse of state police, he added: “It is an indolent approach. They argue that we are mature to use private jets and jeeps, but we are not mature for state police. All those who are opposed to a decentralised police are heavily guarded by the police. But the mases are left without security. When you get to State Houses, you think you are in police barracks. 419 kingpins even have police escorts and riders.

    “Their argument is diversionary. We should end controlled and regulated federalism. We must address the fear of those who believe that governors will use state police to intimidate and oppress their opponents. The fear of ethnicity is also unfounded. When they loot our money, they don’t talk about ethnicity. But when it is state police, they say it will subvert nationhood.”

    Falana called for the democratisation of police control, adding that no President or governor should appoint the Inspector-General and commissioners of police. He said the task should be handled by an expanded body that is representative of the people.

    Prof. Oyebode observed that the current police structure mirrored the defective federalism which had foisted a crisis of nation-building on Nigeria.

    He said: “You call governors chief security officers, but they cannot exercise power over police. He has to plead with the IG for help. Militarism and federalism are hot bed fellows. It appears some people are feeding fat on the present structure.”

    Ubani supported state police, saying that strong institutions with clearly defined powers and limits would check its excesses.

    He said the fear about state police funding is unfounded, pointing out that governors are currently supplying equipment to the distressed police.

    Ubani added :” Under former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, they said private radio and television were dangerous. They said it would lead to strife and deepen tribal sentiment. Today, we have freedom to tune to stations of our choice. They say governors cannot fund the police. But they buy vehicles, office equipment and helicopters for them in Lagos and Rivers. Governors can fund police. They should stop stealing money and there will be money to run the system.”

    Agbaje, who also supported state police, said that would herald effective and efficient policing system.

    He lamented that 12 northern governors were opposing state police after enacting Sharia law and created Hisba, which is a de-facto police to enforce the Islamic law.

    Agbaje added: “ Police is similar to NEPA and NITEL. Why saddling a single agency with the task of policing Nigeria? Police is an unwanted monopoly. If Nigeria could liberalise NEPA and NITEL, we should not continue with the dysfunctional system of a single, federal police. It is a constitutional aberration. Even in unitary Britain, their police is decentralised.

    “Federal Government makes laws and have police to enforce them. The states and local governments make laws, but lack powers of enforcement. Laws that cannot be enforced is a worthless proclamation.”