•As Buhari decorates him in his new rank
•I’ve reached the pinnacle of my career— ex-IGP
•PDP sets agenda for him
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Joseph Erunke & Dirisu Yakubu
ABUJA—THE new Acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, yesterday, promised to handle the forthcoming general elections in the country in a professional manner, as he assured a level playing field for all candidates.
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President Buhari receives and decorates new Inspector General of Police Mr Abubakar Adamu Mohammed in State House on 15th Jan 2019
mu, who was an Assistant Inspector General, AIG, before his appointment was decorated in his new rank by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.
Accompanied by his immediate predecessor, Ibrahim Idris, who incidentally wore the same rank as they were leaving the State House, Adamu, who is from Nasarawa State, thanked President Buhari for finding him worthy of the position and promised to be professional in the discharge of his duties.
He said: “I want to thank Mr. President for considering me worthy to be the next Inspector General of Police. We know that there are security challenges that we need to tackle in the country. From the strategies put in place by the former IGP, we will re-strategise and make sure that we tackle these challenges squarely.
“We know that there are issues of kidnapping, abduction and other security challenges.”
On what to expect during the forthcoming general elections, the acting IGP said: “On the elections, you have heard from the former IGP, adequate arrangement has been made to make sure that free, fair and credible elections take place in Nigeria.
“We are going to build up on the strategies put in place to make sure that we have hitch-free elections in the country.”
We’ll stick to the rules
On partisanship, the new IGP said: “Well, we are professionals. We are going to stick to the rules. We are going to do the right thing; we will not go outside the ethics of our job to do things that are untoward. Everybody will be given level playing ground to play his or her politics.”
In his remarks, the former IGP, Ibrahim Idris, told State House correspondents: “I want to inform Nigerians that today (yesterday) I am 60 years and I think I have reached the pinnacle of my career.
“So, I am going to handover to my successor, the incoming Inspector General of Police. He is an officer I know very well. We knew each other, we have worked together and I wish him success.”
On his advice to the new Police boss, he said: “The advice I will give is that just like in our time, he should try to go round the country and adopt measures to ensure that the Nigerian Police Force give maximum protection to lives and property.”
On challenges faced by the Police Force, he said: “I think so far under this government, Nigeria Police Force has been making a lot of effort to secure Nigerians.
“Obviously, there are challenges in the area of recruitment. Of course, you are aware that the government has just given us approval to recruit more people yearly. By the grace of God this year, the number of police officers is going to increase considerably.”
He said the Police were adequately prepared for the elections, adding that “we have carried out a lot of elections in this country and I think you will agree with me that the Nigeria Police Force tried in these elections. I am assuring Nigerians that the Police will do their best in the coming elections.”
Recall that the new IGP had met with the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, in the early hours of yesterday, when the former Police boss was still performing his last function at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration where he laid wreaths at the cenotaph of unknown soldiers.
Reacting to the development yesterday, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, tasked the new IGP to immediately commence the re-engineering of the Nigeria Police to restore professionalism and adherence to rules of engagement in the Force.