By Yemi Adebisi, Lagos
No doubt, the first victim of President Goodluck Jonathan’s national election defeat is Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, who was booted out of office and replaced with Solomon Arase.
IGP Suleiman Abba
Mr. Abba was sacked barely 24 hours after the government of the United States of America (USA) commended him for good conduct during the last general elections.
Until his appointment, the 59-year-old Sapele-born Arase was the Head of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID) Abuja. He was also the former Commissioner of Police Command, Akwa Ibom State.
Arase was ironically Abba’s superior by years of service, having joined the force in 1981 while the ousted IG enlisted three years later.
He holds bachelors and masters degrees in law, as well as bachelors and masters degrees in political science and strategic studies
Some critics observed that Abba must have been punished by the Presidency that is winding up in five weeks for his role in the just concluded elections. However, others said it was nemesis that caught up with him.
Sources said while the police faced several allegations of bias from the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the polls, the PDP was reportedly disappointed with Abba’s failure, or refusal, to provide sufficient police support to its candidates, including President Jonathan, to win the elections.
He was accused of not doing enough to help the party despite meeting up with his terms financially and otherwise.
For real, Abba would be remembered for a number of controversies that greeted his tenure and the way he was brought into the political circle with a mission.
It would be recalled that notably, Abba, a lawyer, authorised a police assault on the National Assembly, and unilaterally declared (without a court pronouncement) the sack of speaker, Aminu Tambuwal of the House of Representatives, for defecting from the PDP.
On October 30, 2014, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tambuwal defected from the ruling PDP to APC. Few hours later, the IGP Abba announced in a statement the withdrawal of the Speaker’s security details citing Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended to support his action.
It reads: “In view of the recent defection by the Right Hon. Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal, CFR, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress and having regard to the clear provision of section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Nigeria Police Force, has redeployed its personnel attached to his office.”
But Tambuwal, also a lawyer, insisted that the former IGP’s explanation was inaccurate and misleading
Very few applauded the IGP for his ‘proactive’ actions with many accusing him of turning himself and the Police into a constitution interpreting institution abandoning its primary responsibility.
The question many commentators posed then was when did it become the lot of the Nigerian Police to interpret the constitution?
It would also remain in his profile that he disobeyed the court order and insisted that the speaker can longer enjoy police protection having defected from the party on which platform he contested and won an election to the House of Representatives.
Few days after his appointment, he had also told senior officers that he would prevent criminals from contesting the 2015 general elections.
But the Supreme Court had ruled in the case between Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that any indictment needed judicial backing to be effective meaning the police cannot stop a candidate without an order of the court.
Other sins that critics claimed are unforgetable in the archive of this police chief include the arrest and dentition of over 700 top APC members in Osun state barely days before the state’s governorship election on August 9, 2014; the release of the detained party faithful without charging them to court for the breach of any known law or regulation in the country and the failure of the former IGP to call Joseph Mbu, a ‘controversial’ assistant inspector general of Police, to order for his reckless abuse of police powers especially after a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja delivered a judgment declaring the ban on the #BringBackOurGirls campaign group illegal, null and void.
It would also be recalled that shortly before the just concluded general elections, Abba openly countered a directive by the Independent National Electoral Commission that voters could wait at polling units and protect their votes.The former IGP warned the electorate to leave the polling units once they cast their votes.
He argued that allowing voters to wait after casing their votes could lead to a breakdown of law and order and promised that the police would ensure all votes count. Few days after his directive came under strong criticism, he made a U-turn and said he never stopped voters from waiting after casting their ballots.
A top security expert said Abba was not too clever with his game, saying others would learn from his mistakes.
“But even those he desperately tried to please have now removed him from office in ways that can be described as ignominious. This should serve as lessons to future IGPs.”
It is rather amazing that most of the people that had campaigned for his removal at the wake of his outbursts and challenges expressed shock over his final removal.
Those who apponted him; confirmed his appointment just after six months of his appointment and sacked him after nine months of ‘meritorious’ service did not tell us why he had to be removed.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned Abba’s removal. They claimed that he was not due for retirement until March 22, 2019. They said sacking such a high profile service chief without any justifiable casus belli raises more questions than answers as it was quite unusual for an outgoing regime to embark on such exercise.
The implication, according to the religious group, was that the hands of the incoming administration are being tied and its maneuvers being restrained.
Records have it that it was Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, that drove the political vehicle that made Abba an Inspector General of Police after MD Abubakar.
An Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, Abba, served as Aide de Camp (ADC) to Mrs. Maryam Abacha, during her First Ladyship to General Sani Abacha.
After Abacha’s death, Abba rose to through the ranks to become Commissioner of Police in Rivers State and then AIG.
On his appointment, he became the third man in a row from the North West zone to become IG.
It was also noted that aside Kam Salem (Borno), Gambo Jimeta (Adamawa) and Aliyu Attah (Kogi), all the past Inspector Generals of Police from the north have come from the north west zone. These include Mohammed D Yusuf (Katsina), Adamu Suleiman (Kano), Ibrahim Coomasie (Katsina), Hafiz Ringim (Jigawa), and Abubakar.
What has happened to Abba is the fulfilment of the aged long saying, “soldier go, soldier come. Barracks remain.”
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