The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase would attain the mandatory retirement age of 60 in June this year, having clocked 35 years in service. He is said to be set to commence his compulsory terminal leave this March.
Appointed in April, 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, following the removal of Barrister Sulaiman Abba, over alleged misconduct, the current Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, will bow out of office on June 21, 2016, when he would have clocked the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.
About the same time, the Edo-born top police officer would have also served the Nigerian Police Force for 35 years.
Expectedly, with less than three months left, the jostle for who succeeds Arase has began in earnest, however, the disposition of the President Muhammadu Buhari led government reportedly does not favour open lobby for all appointments reducing the usual open lobby that characterised such appointments in the past.
Although there are strong indications that the next Inspector General of Police is more likely to come from either North-Central or South-East geo-political zone, there is another school of thought that believes that rather than focusing on any particular geo-political zone for the next IGP, priority should be placed on competence and antecedents in view of the state of insecurity in the country.
Arase might proceed on a compulsory three month terminal leave any time in the next two weeks, preparatory for his retirement in line with the extant laws.
There is also another school of thought that believes even though competence and track records of service be considered above any other consideration in the appointment of a new police boss , both the North-Central and the South-East have such qualities in the police , particularly that a chart of appointments of the service and security chiefs shows that the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff are from the North East, the North-West has the Director State Service, the South-West has Chief of Defence Staff and the South-South has Chief of Naval Staff and police IG, leaving out the South-East and North-Central.
There is yet another strong school of thought who believes that no particular geo-political zone should be considered, stressing that a competent and well educated police officer, with both international and local exposure, irrespective of where he or she comes from, should be appointed as head of the Nigerian Police Force to drive the reforms and instill discipline within the Force for optimal delivery of service.
It is important to note that the appointments of Inspectors General of Police in Nigeria, following the present composition of service chiefs , might not necessarily follow the order of seniority , which favoured the current occupant of the office because of perceived imbalances in the hierarchy. However, what must not be compromised would be competence and track records of team work, which would take the lead and provide the kind of leadership that would combat internal security challenges and also complement efforts of the military in protection of the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
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